Efficacy of intermittent preventive treatment and insecticide treated nets on malaria parasitaemia in pregnancy among Igbo women in southeastern Nigeria

Background & objectives: Prevention of malaria in pregnancy is a key intervention for reducing maternal mortality and morbidity in the tropical region of Africa. The present study was aimed to determine whether the administration of two doses of intermittent preventive treatment (IPT) with sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine (IPT-SP) and use of insecticide treated nets (ITNs) is correlated with reduced incidence of malaria in pregnancy or not. Methods: In total 270 pregnant women were randomly divided into three groups; A, B and C depending on the use of IPT and ITN, and were tested for malaria in pregnancy. Results: The overall prevalence of malaria parasitaemia was found to be 57.8%. The prevalence rate was 56.7% for group A (IPT alone); 45.6% for group B (IPT and ITN) and 71.1% for group C (None). The difference between group A and C was statistically significant (χ2 = 4.07, OR = 1.88,p < 0.04). Also, women in group A were one and half times more susceptible to malaria than women in group B (χ2 = 2.22, OR = 1.56,p < 0.14). Interpretation & conclusion: The use of IPT-SP and ITN was found to be significantly associated with reduced malarial infestation during pregnancy in the study area. There is a need to scale up both the strategies in order to reduce the high burden of malaria in pregnant women