QUESTION If the baby's mother has malaria, can it affect the child? ANSWER If the mother is pregnant when she gets malaria, particularly if it is her first pregnancy and particularly if she has never had malaria before, the effects on both the mother and child can be very serious. For the mother, this is because her immune system changes when she gets pregnant. This leaves her more … [Read more...]
Malaria and Pregnancy
QUESTION Can your baby become immune if you're pregnant and you have malaria? ANSWER Some of the protective antibodies that the mother produces when she has malaria can pass to her baby via the placenta. There is also evidence for immune system "priming" in foetuses when their mothers have been infected my malaria during pregnancy. However, these potentially protective effects are usually … [Read more...]
Teen Has Anaemia, Mom Had Malaria
QUESTION I am concerned that my 22 yr old daughter has anaemia (tired & sleepy), possibly caused by Malaria (Katima Mulilo, Namibia), which I contracted just before returning to Cape Town. I fell pregnant at that time. I was treated at the local hospital before returning home. Could it have affected the unborn fetus? My daughter has a low red blood count. ANSWER Congenital malaria … [Read more...]