Malaria Infection and Maternal Factors Among Pregnant Women in Gombe Central Zone, Nigeria

Pregnancy-related malaria can have catastrophic consequences for the health of the mother, including severe anemia, hypoglycemia, acute lung injury, and even death. The aim of this study is to determine the prevalence of Malaria Infection in relation to age groups, trimester and gravidae among pregnant women in Gombe Central Zone, Nigeria. Blood samples of 600 pregnant women from eight health facilities in the zone were collected and examined using Rapid Diagnostic Test (RDT) to detect Plasmodium falciparum species. A total of 600 pregnant women who participated were examined in this study, 187 (31.2%) were found positive with malaria parasites. The women in the age group of 16-24 years had the highest prevalence of malaria infection of 111 (34.6%) of all the respondents. This was then succeeded by the age group 25-34 years with 68 (27.9%) (χ2=5.991, p=0.044), women during the second trimester registered the highest prevalence of infection with 88 (32.9%) testing positive, closely followed by women during the first trimester with 16 (32.0%) and third trimester with 83 (29.6%) respectively (χ2=5.991, p=0.750) while multigravidae recorded the largest percentage of malaria infection with 98 (16.3%), followed by the Secundigravidae with 46 (7.7%) and primigravidae with 43 (7.2%) (χ2=5.991, p=0.981). Therefore, antenatal care services that include malaria prevention programs with regular screening, diagnosis, and treatment throughout pregnancy should be enhanced.