Longitudinal studies of Plasmodium falciparum malaria in pregnant women living in a rural Cameroonian village with high perennial transmission
Leke, R.F.G.; Bioga, J.D.; Zhou, J.; Fouda, G.G.; Leke, R.J.I.; Tchinda, V.; Megnekou, R.; Fogako, J.; Sama, G.; Gwanmesia, P.; Bomback, G.; Nama, C.; Diouf, A.; Bobbili, N.; Taylor, D.W.
American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 83(5): 996-1004
2010
ISSN/ISBN: 1476-1645 PMID: 21036826 DOI: 10.4269/ajtmh.2010.10-0249Document Number: 227279
A prospective longitudinal study of Plasmodium falciparum in pregnant women was conducted in the rural village of Ngali II, where malaria is hyperendemic and individuals receive ~0.7 infectious mosquito bites/person/day throughout the year. Pregnant women (N = 60; 19 primigravidae, 41 multigravidae) were enrolled early in pregnancy (median 14 wk) and were followed monthly, with 38 women followed through term (5.7 ± 1.1 prenatal visits and delivery). The total number of times primigravidae were slide-positive during pregnancy was higher than multigravidae (3.3 ± 1.1 versus 1.3 ± 1.3 times; P < 0.001), but no difference in the number of polymerase chain reaction-positive cases (4.6 ± 1.7 and 3.4 ± 1.7 times, P = 0.106) or total genotypes they harbored (8.9 ± 3.2 and 7.0 ± 2.9) was found. Only 7.9% women developed symptomatic infections. All primigravidae and 38% multigravidae were placental malaria-positive at delivery (P = 0.009). Genotyping showed that 77% of placental parasites were acquired ≥ 30 wks in pregnancy. These results help identify the extent of malaria-associated changes women experience during pregnancy.