Question: Can I take anti malaria to treat a diagnosed malaria disease at 39 weeks of pregnancy without it affecting my estimated delivery date (EDD). Answer: There is little direct evidence related to the impact of antimalarial medication on delivery date during third trimester infections with malaria. However, as the malaria parasite can pass across the placenta and infect the unborn baby … [Read more...]
Treatment of Malaria While Pregnant
Question: What can a pregnant women affected with malaria trophozoite of p. Falciparum (++) do? Can she take chloroquine inside drip? Answer: It depends on whether the P. falciparum in that area is chloroquine-sensitive. If yes, then chloroquine is an appropriate treatment (although it is usually given orally). However, if the P. falciparum is known to be resistant to chloroquine (as it is in … [Read more...]
Malaria in Pregnancy Is a Matter of Life and Death – for Mother and Child
This quarter’s e-issue focuses on malaria in pregnancy, a critically important topic within the field of malaria prevention and control. The changes that occur in a woman’s body when she becomes pregnant, and particularly to her immune system, leave her especially vulnerable to contracting malaria, and experiencing severe illness. Dr. Stephanie Valderramos describes these physiological changes … [Read more...]
Plasmodium and Pregnancy
Malaria Susceptibility in the Pregnant Patient The pregnant woman is a unique patient due to physiologic adaptations that allow a woman to grow and maintain a fetus. In many ways, the fetus is a transplant—it is able to develop and grow within its genetically distinct mother without immune rejection. This is possible through the immunosuppressed state of pregnancy. During pregnancy, the … [Read more...]
Malaria in Pregnancy – How Many Lives at Risk?
The global malaria burden is huge. Approximately 3.3 billion people—50% of the world’s population—live in areas of malaria transmission. Of these, approximately 125 million are pregnant. According to estimates by the World Health Organization, there were approximately 198 million cases of malaria in 2013, which led to 584,000 deaths. Malaria in pregnancy is thought to contribute to up to … [Read more...]
The Malaria in Pregnancy Library: A Rich Resource for Information and Research
Most people know that children are at particular risk from malaria, a disease caused by a parasite that is transmitted by mosquitoes. Malaria is a major cause of death among children in sub-Saharan Africa. However, it is less known that malaria in pregnancy can have equally devastating consequences both to the mother and developing fetus. During pregnancy a change in a woman’s immune status occurs … [Read more...]
Notes from the Field: Q&A with Jackline
Jackline is a Ugandan medical doctor and maternal health specialist. Malaria.com caught up with Jackline to ask her a few questions about her work, and specifically her observations on the impacts of malaria on pregnant women. What is a typical day like for you when working in the field? A typical day involves waking up at 6am, preparing for the day and by 8am I am in the ward. First I … [Read more...]
UNICEF Commemorates World Malaria Day: Scaling up Interventions Against Malaria During Pregnancy
Is malaria infectious?
QUESTION Is malaria infectious or noninfectious? ANSWER Malaria is considered an infectious disease because it can be transmitted from one person to another, via the bite of an infected mosquito. Since the parasite that causes malaria is passed through the blood, it can also be transmitted via organ transplant, blood transfusion, or via pregnancy (so-called "congenital" malaria). … [Read more...]
Pregnant Women and Malaria
QUESTION Why are pregnant women and children at the highest risk of getting malaria? ANSWER The reason why pregnant women and children are at greater risk of contracting malaria is due to their reduced levels of immunity. Children living in malarial areas have less immunity than adults because they have had less exposure to malaria, and so their immune systems have not had a chance to … [Read more...]