PLoS ONE (Jan 2015)

Plasmodium vivax Malaria in Pregnant Women in the Brazilian Amazon and the Risk Factors Associated with Prematurity and Low Birth Weight: A Descriptive Study.

  • Camila Bôtto-Menezes,
  • Mônica Caroline Silva Dos Santos,
  • Janicéia Lopes Simplício,
  • Jandira Menezes de Medeiros,
  • Kelly Cristina Barroso Gomes,
  • Isabel Cristina de Carvalho Costa,
  • Eva Batista-Silva,
  • Cristiana Teixeira do Nascimento,
  • Eda Cristina da Silva Chagas,
  • José Felipe Jardim Sardinha,
  • Franklin Simões de Santana Filho,
  • Marianna Brock,
  • Azucena Bardají,
  • Flor Ernestina Martínez-Espinosa

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0144399
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 10, no. 12
p. e0144399

Abstract

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INTRODUCTION:Plasmodium vivax is the most prevalent malaria species in the American region. Brazil accounts for the higher number of the malaria cases reported in pregnant women in the Americas. This study aims to describe the characteristics of pregnant women with malaria in an endemic area of the Brazilian Amazon and the risk factors associated with prematurity and low birth weight (LBW). METHODS/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS:Between December 2005 and March 2008, 503 pregnant women with malaria that attended a tertiary health centre were enrolled and followed up until delivery and reported a total of 1016 malaria episodes. More than half of study women (54%) were between 20-29 years old, and almost a third were adolescents. The prevalence of anaemia at enrolment was 59%. Most women (286/503) reported more than one malaria episode and most malaria episodes (84.5%, 846/1001) were due to P. vivax infection. Among women with only P. vivax malaria, the risk of preterm birth and low birth weight decreased in multigravidae (OR, 0.36 [95% CI, 0.16-0.82]; p = 0.015 and OR 0.24 [95% CI, 0.10-0.58]; p = 0.001, respectively). The risk of preterm birth decreased with higher maternal age (OR 0.43 [95% CI, 0.19-0.95]; p = 0.037) and among those women who reported higher antenatal care (ANC) attendance (OR, 0.32 [95% CI, 0.15-0.70]; p = 0.005). CONCLUSION:This study shows that P. vivax is the prevailing species among pregnant women with malaria in the region and shows that vivax clinical malaria may represent harmful consequences for the health of the mother and their offsprings particularly on specific groups such as adolescents, primigravidae and those women with lower ANC attendance.