Occurrence of Malaria Parasitaemia among Pregnant Women attending Selected Hospitals in Akure, Southwest, Nigeria

Malaria, a serious and potentially fatal disease caused by Plasmodium parasites, poses a major public health challenge, pregnant women, their unborn children and children under the age of five are among the most vulnerable groups. This study therefore aimed to determine the effects of blood group, genotype and maternal demographic on malaria parasitemia among pregnant women visiting selected hospitals in Akure, Ondo State, Southwest Nigeria. Blood samples were collected and were all analyzed to determine the blood group using the ABO anti sera method and genotype was determined using electrophoresis method. Malaria parasite load was carried out using microscopy (giemsa staining technique) method. The overall incidence of malaria among the outpatient pregnant women is 66.80% (127/190) among which 63.70% (121/190), 2.10% (4/190) and 1.10% (2/190) had mild, moderate and severe parasitaemia levels respectively compared with the control with malaria incidence of 7.30% (3/41). There is no significant (p<0.05) difference in the malaria incidence among different blood groups and genotypes. The parasitaemia loads of those with genotype AS (984.06±504.36 per µL of blood) was significantly (F = 8.039; p – value = 0.005) higher than AA (158.77±11.39 per µL of blood). The high prevalence of malaria among pregnant women underscores the persistent public health challenge in this area.