Prevalence Of Malaria Parasitaemia In Pregnant Women Attending Antenatal Clinics At The University Of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, Ilorin, Nigeria

The paper studied the prevalence of malaria parasitaemia among pregnant women attending antenatal clinics at University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, Ilorin, Kwara State. A total of 350 blood samples were collected from consecutive pregnant women registering at the antenatal clinics. It was examined for malaria parasites, using both thick and thin films. Cellulose acetate electrophoresis was used to detect the haemoglobin genotype; haematocrit method was used to determine the packed cell volume (PVC) and tube technique to determine the blood group and rhesus typing of the subjects. An overall prevalence rate of 10.5% was obtained. Prevalence rate for age group 14-20 was 14% while age group 41- 50 had no infection. Primigravidae had higher infection rate (14%) than Multigravidae (8%) and the difference was significant (P Key words: Parasitaemia, Plasmodium falciparum, Socioeconomic status