Impact of Insecticide Treated Nets and Intermittent Preventive Treatment in Reducing Malaria Morbidity among Pregnant Women in Gombe, Nigeria

Abstract

Malaria in pregnancy is a major public health problem affecting women fetuses and new borns. Many studies highlight the critical importance of continuing the use of Insecticide Treated Nets (ITN) and Intermittent Preventive Treatment In Pregnancy (IPTp) among pregnant women to reduce the adverse consequences of malaria in pregnancy. This study was conducted in order to determine malaria prevalence in relation to the use ofITN and IPTp among the pregnant women in the study area. Five (5) ml of blood was obtained from each participant by the use of a sterile syringe and placed in a sterile EDTA container for laboratory analysis. The malaria parasite was detected by microscopic examination of Giemsa-stained thick blood films. Information on the use of ITN and IPTP was collected using administered questionnaire. A high prevalence of 78.4% was observed among the studied population. Although 74.4% of those that use ITN were positive for malaria parasite as against the 83.6% of those that reported not using the ITN, the difference was statistically not significant (p<0.05). 70.0% of those reported using IPTp were positive however, higher percentage was observed for those reported not using IPTp (83.7.0%). The difference was statistically significant in this case. This study has shown the influence of malaria prevention method during pregnancy on malaria infection and the need for targeted preventive starategies when  designing and implementing policies aimed at improving uptake of these measures during pregnancy in Gombe. Keywords: malaria, pregnant women, ITN, Gombe, IPTp