Treatment and prevention of malaria in pregnancy and newborn.
Pregnant women are at increased risk for malaria infection. Although important advances have been made in the last years, the mechanisms that explain the increased susceptibility are not yet fully understood. Malaria infection in pregnancy is associated with maternal and fetal morbidity and mortality. The severity of the disease depends on the level of pre-pregnancy acquired immunity against malaria, and the consequences of infection are more severe in non-immune women. In highly endemic areas, the frequency and severity of the infection is higher in primigravida and decreases with increasing parity. In non-immune women, the risk is similar across the parity and malaria may be an important direct cause of maternal mortality. Malaria infection during pregnancy has important negative effects on infant's health, causing intrauterine growth retardation and prematurity or directly through congenital infection. In this paper, we review the pathology, diagnosis, and current recommendations for treatment and prevention of malaria in the pregnant woman and her infant.
Coll
Oriol
O
Department of Maternal Fetal Medicine, Institut Clinic de Ginecologia, Obstetricia i Neonatologia, Institut d'Investigacions Biomediques August Pi i Sunyer, Hospital Clinic de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain. ocoll@clinioc.ub.es
Menendez
Clara
C
Botet
Francesc
F
Dayal
Rajeshwar
R
Carbonell-Estrany
Xavier
X
Weisman
Leonard E
LE
Anceschi
Mauricio M
MM
Greenough
Anne
A
Gibss
Ronald S
RS
Ville
Yves
Y
D000818:Animals; D000962:Antimalarials / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D019353:Endemic Diseases / Q000517:prevention & control; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D018445:Infectious Disease Transmission, Vertical / Q000517:prevention & control*; D008288:Malaria / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000276:immunology / Q000517:prevention & control; D010298:Parity; D010961:Plasmodium / Q000187:drug effects; D011247:Pregnancy; D015597:Pregnancy Complications, Parasitic / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000276:immunology / Q000517:prevention & control; D014195:Travel
D000962:Antimalarials