No abstract

Background: Transmission of Malaria by blood transfusion remains a significant public health problem in the malaria endemic regions like Nigeria. This study therefore was to investigate Plasmodium malaria and ABO blood group among blood donors in Yenegoa, Bayelsa State, Nigeria. Materials and methods:Prevalence of malaria infection was determined on 250 randomly selected blood donors (201 males and 49 females) using standard parasitological method and ABO blood group was done using the monoclonal antisera A, B, and D (murex Diagnostic, inc, Dartford, UK) on a slide and observing for agglutination. Results:The overall prevalence was 91(36.4%) out of which 84(41.8%) were males and 7(14.3%) were females. Prevalence of infection in relation to age showed that subjects within age's 24-29 years were more infected with 48.6%. Followed by those within ages 30-35 years with 42.9%, and those within 42-47 years with 30.4% while the least infected age group were those within the ages 18-24 years with 23.7% rate of infections. ABO blood group of the population sampled showed that Blood group O+ was the most prevalent with 119(47.6%) followed by blood group B+ with 62(24.8%) and A+ with 31(12.4%) while the least prevalent was AB-with 0 prevalence. The prevalence of infection in relation to ABO blood group showed that blood group O+ had the highest prevalence with 42.9% followed by blood group A+ with 41.9% and groups AB+ and A-both tied with 33.3% while the least prevalence was recorded in blood group AB-with zero prevalence. The difference was not statistically significant (P>0.05). Conclusion:The prevalence of malaria infection among blood donors is high and blood group O harbours more parasite than any other blood group in Bayelsa State.

Background: Malaria during pregnancy escalates the damaging consequence to the mother and neonate. The usage of intermittent preventive treatment of malaria (IPTp) with sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP) is recommended for averting the deleterious consequences of malaria in pregnancy. This study evaluated the effectiveness of, and compliance with the use of SP for malaria among pregnant women in Port Harcourt Rivers State, Nigeria. Method: A total of 300 samples of maternal peripheral blood (MPB), 84 neonatal cord blood (NCB) and 84 placental blood (PLB) were collected from consenting mothers. Malaria parasitaemia were analysed using standard parasitological methods, and bio-data of consenting mothers were collected through questionnaires and from ANC records. Results: Out of the samples examined for MPB, 59(19.7%) tested positive to malaria. Those with only primary education (57.1%) and women of age ≤ 20yrs (25%) had higher prevalence. Women who took SP had significantly lower prevalence (17.6%) than those that took other drugs (36.4%) (p < 0.05). Malaria prevalence was highest among women who had 3 months interval between each dose (39.1%), followed by those of 2months (23.7%) and those of 1 month (7.0%) (p < 0.05). The primigravidaes (22.8%) had an insignificantly higher prevalence than secundigravidae (19.4%) and multigravidae (15.9%). Also, 30.5% of women who registered in their third trimester of pregnancy had a significantly higher malaria parasitaemia than those who registered during their first 8.10%, or second trimesters, 19.4%. Of the 84 MPB-NCB-PLB pairedamples examined, 16.7%, 8.3% and 25% respectively were infected with malaria parasitaemia. On frequency of compliance, mothers who took SP once (37.5%) had a significantly higher MPB parasitaemia than those who took it twice (7.84%) and those of thrice (6.25%). Neonatal cord blood parasitaemia prevalence revealed that those that took SP once, that is, 25%, had a higher prevalence than others like those of twice (5.88%) and thrice (0%) respectively. Conclusion: The use and compliance of SP reduced the prevalence of malaria among pregnant women and their new-borns. Keywords: Compliance; Sulphadoxine-Pyrimethamine; Pregnant women; Malaria Parasitaemia.

Background & objectives: The utilization of Intermittent Preventive Treatment (sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine) in pregnancy (IPTp-SP) for combating malaria has indicated control over adverse birth outcomes and has been recommended for use by pregnant women. The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of IPTp-SP on maternal, neonatal and placental malaria in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. Methods: 316 samples of maternal peripheral blood (MPB), placental blood (PLB), neonatal cord blood (NCB) and placental tissue (PT) were collected each from consenting mothers. Blood samples were processed and stained by the Giemsa method. Placental tissues were processed and stained in haematoxylin. Examination of samples for malaria parasitaemia was carried out using standard parasitological methods. Demography of participants was collected through questionnaires and from ante natal care (ANC) records. Results: Overall prevalence of 74 (23.42%) was recorded. Age-related prevalence indicated that ≤ 20 years, 9 (56.25%) had the highest prevalence followed by 21–30 years (23.48%), and ≥41 years (16.67%) (p <0.05). Malaria in MPB showed that SP-users had 26 (13.20%) while non-users had 48 (40.33%) (p <0.05). In NCB, SP-users recorded 20 (10.15%) while non-users had 13 (10.92) (p>0.05). The prevalence in PLB and PT revealed that SP-users had a lower prevalence in PLB, 31 (15.73%) and PT, 12 (6.09%) while non-users recorded a higher prevalence 48 (40.33%) in PLB and 21 (17.65%) in PT (P<0.05). Interpretation & conclusion: The utilization of IPTp-SP is seen to significantly reduce the occurrence of malaria in pregnancy, placental tissue and in neonates thereby helping in improving birth outcomes.

Background: Malaria causes diverse adverse effects in the fetus due to the invasion of the placenta by Plasmodium. The use of intermittent preventive treatment (Sulphadoxinepyrimethamine- IPTp-SP) as a control measure for malaria in pregnancy has been recommended and shown to reduce unwanted birth outcomes. Objectives: This work aimed to evaluate the effects of intervention schemes on sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP) compliance and utilization among pregnant women in a health facility in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. Methods: A hospital-based survey was carried out among pregnant women admitted to the Labor ward of Obio-Cottage hospital. The information of mothers was collected using a well-structured and pre-tested questionnaire and from their antenatal care (ANC) records. Results: Time of ANC registration indicated that 87%, 11.33%, and 1.66% of mothers were registered during their first, second, and third trimesters, respectively. Sulphadoxinepyrimethamine was the drug of choice for 93.66% of the women while 6.33% took other drugs. The survey revealed that 97.15% and 2.85% of the women started SP usage in their second and third trimesters, respectively. It was observed that the majority of the women (69.39%) took SP thrice while 24.19% and 6.40% consumed it twice and once, respectively. Regarding knowledge about SP, 89% of the women viewed SP as a preventive drug for malaria while 11% acknowledged it as a therapeutic drug. The birth outcomes of the neonates whose mothers took SP indicated that 1.42% had low birth weight (LBW) while 98.57% had acceptable birth weight. Meanwhile, 10.53% of the babies born to the mothers who did not use SP had LBW, and 89.47% of them had acceptable birth weights. Overall, 98.93% of the neonates of SP-compliant women and 89.48% of the babies of non-compliant women were alive. Non- compliant women had higher prevalence of preterm birth (5.76%) and fetal death (5.26%) than SP-compliant women (0.7% and 0.35%, respectively). Conclusions: Adequate knowledge and compliance with SP usage were high in the studied population, which was associated with favorable birth outcomes.