Malaria in pregnancy in an area of stable and intense transmission: is it asymptomatic?
OBJECTIVE
To report a study of the signs and symptoms of malarial infection during pregnancy in an area of stable and intense transmission.


METHODS
As part of a clinical trial, to assess the efficacy and safety of four antimalarial drug regimens in pregnant women, we collected clinical and laboratory data from 900 parasitaemic pregnant women and 223 non-parasitaemic pregnant women who attended an antenatal clinic at a district hospital in Ghana. Frequencies of signs and symptoms were calculated and their association with the level of parasitaemia was assessed using multivariate logistic regression.


RESULTS
History of fever (7.8%vs. 44.4%; P < 0.0001), headache (12.5%vs. 43.9%; P < 0.0001), vomiting (0 vs. 11.5%; P = 0.01), malaise (1.6%vs. 31.6%; P < 0.0001) dizziness (0%vs. 23%; P < 0.0001) and fatigue (0%vs. 22.5%; P < 0.0001) was substantially higher in parasitaemic primigravidae than in aparasitaemic primigravid women. Similar differences in the distribution of the symptoms and signs were observed between parasitaemic and aparasitaemic multigravid women. The proportion of women with elevated concentrations of aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase and total bilirubin and its fractions was also higher in parasitaemic than in non-parasitaemic women.


CONCLUSIONS
In areas of stable malarial transmission, malaria in pregnancy is often symptomatic. Although the symptoms are mostly non-specific, careful recording of history may be useful to identify women who need a confirmatory test and an effective antimalarial treatment.
Tagbor
Harry
H
Department of Community Health, School of Medical Sciences, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana. ktagbor@yahoo.com
Bruce
Jane
J
Browne
Edmund
E
Greenwood
Brian
B
Chandramohan
Daniel
D
D000410:Alanine Transaminase / Q000378:metabolism; D001219:Aspartate Aminotransferases / Q000378:metabolism; D001663:Bilirubin / Q000378:metabolism; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D019353:Endemic Diseases; D004812:Epidemiologic Methods; D005260:Female; D005869:Ghana / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008288:Malaria / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D018512:Parasitemia / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D011247:Pregnancy; D015597:Pregnancy Complications, Parasitic / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control
D001219:Aspartate Aminotransferases; D000410:Alanine Transaminase; D001663:Bilirubin