Prevalence of Malaria Parasite among Pregnant Women Attending to Saudi Kassala Teaching Hospital in Kassala State, Eastern Sudan

Abstract

Objective. Malaria during pregnancy is a priority area for malaria research and control as pregnant women represent a high risk group for severe malaria, and the presentation of malaria during pregnancy varies according to the level of transmission in the area; so the aim of this study is to determine the prevalence rates of malaria parasite among pregnant women attending to Saudi Kassala Teaching hospital in Kassala state, 2022. Methods. A cross-sectional study was carried out in Saudi Kassala Teaching hospital in Kassala State. This study involved one hundred and eighty-five blood samples collected from pregnant women who was then examined by using blood films and ICT for malaria, and the data were collected by a structured questionnaire and analyzed using SPSS version 21. Results. The prevalence of malaria among pregnant women was 2.2% (95% CI: 0.006–0.054). There was no significant difference among the different age groups with respect to the prevalence of malaria ( $P$ value = 0.483). The prevalence of malaria in rural residency was 2.2%, and this was significantly more common than the urban residency ( $P$ value = 0.021). When compared across the gestational trimesters, there was no significant difference between them ( $P$ value = 0.518). The number of gravidity is not related to malaria infection ( $P$ value = 0.737). The presence of symptom compliant of malaria during pregnancy does not suggest the presence of malaria ( $P$ value = 0.152). No difference was found between the different educational levels with respect to the prevalence of malaria ( $P$ value = 0.362). The result showed that there was 1 (0.5%) negative result in ICT which was positive in blood film for malaria (BFFM) and there were 3 (1.6%) positive malaria parasites by both methods in all 185 samples with statistically insignificant differences ( $P$  = 0.703). Conclusion. Plasmodium falciparum was only species detected in this study. Malaria among pregnant women was more prevalent in rural areas. However, other factors such as age, gestational age, gravidity, and educational level do not affect the prevalence of malaria in pregnant women. The presence of symptomatic compliant of malaria during pregnancy does not suggest the presence of malaria. The use of ICT or BFFM has similar diagnostic outcome for malaria in pregnancy.