Observational studyMalaria journal2014
Pregnant women are a reservoir of malaria transmission in Blantyre, Malawi.
Observational study in Malaria journal, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers.
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Who cites it
19 citing papers in PubMed, 37 citations in OpenAlex.
- Placental but Not Peripheral Plasmodium falciparum Infection During Pregnancy Is Associated With Increased Risk of Malaria in Infancy.The Journal of infectious diseases · 2017Trial
- Reversible paralysis in pregnancy, thinking beyond malaria: a case report.BMC infectious diseases · 2025Article
- Asymptomatic malaria in pregnancy and associated risk factors in Majang Zone, Gambella Region, Southwest Ethiopia: a hard-to-reach malaria hotspot.Malaria journal · 2024Article
- Plasmodium infections and associated risk factors among parturients in Jawi district, northwest Ethiopia: a cross-sectional study.Malaria journal · 2023Article
- Biology and epidemiology ofParasite epidemiology and control · 2023Review
- Mapping and characterizing areas with high levels of malaria in pregnancy in Brazil: A spatiotemporal analysis.Lancet regional health. Americas · 2022Article
- Prevalence of Malaria and Associated Factors among Delivering Mothers in Northwest Ethiopia.BioMed research international · 2021Article
- Effect of sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine doses for prevention of malaria during pregnancy in hypoendemic area in Tanzania.Malaria journal · 2020Article
- Malaria in Pregnancy in Endemic Regions of Colombia: High Frequency of Asymptomatic and Peri-Urban Infections in Pregnant Women with Malaria.Infectious diseases in obstetrics and gynecology · 2020Article
- Social determinants of malaria in an endemic area of Indonesia.Malaria journal · 2019Article
- Association between alpha-thalassaemia trait, Plasmodium falciparum asexual parasites and gametocyte carriage in a malaria endemic area in Southern Ghana.BMC research notes · 2019Article
- Severe Case ofCase reports in infectious diseases · 2019Article
- Dynamics of Plasmodium falciparum gametocyte carriage in pregnant women under intermittent preventive treatment with sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine in Benin.Malaria journal · 2018Article
- Uptake of intermittent preventive treatment and pregnancy outcomes: health facilities and community surveys in Chókwè district, southern Mozambique.Malaria journal · 2018Article
- Changes in Malaria Epidemiology in Africa and New Challenges for Elimination.Trends in parasitology · 2017Review
- Pregnant women and infants as sentinel populations to monitor prevalence of malaria: results of pilot study in Lake Zone of Tanzania.Malaria journal · 2016Article
- The prevalence of malaria at first antenatal visit in Blantyre, Malawi declined following a universal bed net campaign.Malaria journal · 2015Observational
- High burden of malaria infection in pregnant women in a rural district of Zambia: a cross-sectional study.Malaria journal · 2015Article
- Vector-borne diseases in pregnancy.Therapeutic advances in infectious diseaseReview
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundDuring pregnancy, women living in malaria-endemic regions are at increased risk of malaria infection and can harbour chronic placental infections. Intermittent preventive treatment with sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP-IPTp) is administered to reduce malaria morbidity. It was hypothesized that the presence of placental malaria infection and SP-IPTp use would increase the risk of peripheral blood gametocytes, the parasite stage that is transmissible to mosquitoes. This would suggest that pregnant women may be important reservoirs of malaria transmission.
methodsLight microscopy was used to assess peripheral gametocytaemia in pregnant women enrolled in a longitudinal, observational study in Blantyre, Malawi to determine the association between placental malaria and maternal gametocytaemia. The relationship between SP-IPTp and gametocytaemia was also examined.
results2,719 samples from 448 women were analysed and 32 episodes of microscopic gametocytaemia were detected in 27 women. At the time of enrolment 22 of 446 women (4.9%) had gametocytaemia and of the 341 women for whom there was sufficient sampling to analyse infection over the entire course of pregnancy, 27 (7.9%) were gametocytaemic at least once. Gametocytaemia at enrollment was associated with placental malaria, defined as malaria pigment or parasites detected by histology or qPCR, respectively (OR: 32.4, 95% CI: 4.2-250.2), but was not associated with adverse maternal or foetal outcomes. Administration of SP-IPTp did not affect gametocyte clearance or release into peripheral blood.
conclusionsGametocytaemia is present in 5% of pregnant women at their first antenatal visit and associated with placental malaria. SP-IPTp does not alter the risk of gametocytaemia. These data suggest that pregnant women are a significant reservoir of gametocyte transmission and should not be overlooked in elimination efforts. Interventions targeting this population would benefit from reaching women prior to first antenatal visit.
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