Chioma O Anorue*, Ogochukwu C Okeke and Chinyere N Ukaga
The prevalence of placental malaria was carried out in pregnant women living in Asaba area of Delta State.Blood samples were collected from 76 pregnant women at Federal Medical Centre Asaba, Delta State, using both thick and thin blood smears from the placenta. The overall prevalence of the placental malaria in the study population was 65.8%. Prevalence of placental malaria in study population showed primigravidae 11(52.4%), secundigravidae 9(56.3%) and multigravidae 30(76.9%). However, there was no significant relationship between prevalence of placental malaria and gravidity (p>0.05), there was no significant relationship (p>0.05) between prevalence and age, the prevalence increased with increasing age group. There was also no relationship between anaemia and age of the study population.Results from this study showed high prevalence of placental malaria in all gravidae due to the fact that Asaba municipal is surrounded by river Niger. Acquire or accumulated immunity from no child birth or multiple childbirths did not stop them from being infected with malaria. Recommendations include the use of IPTs, ITNs, vaccine introduction and good health education.
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