The prevalence of malaria parasites in pregnant women and other patients in Awka urban, Anambra State, Nigeria.

Five hundred and fifty five (555) blood samples from pregnant women and other patients from randomly selected hospitals in Awka Urban were investigated for the presence of malarial parasites using standard methods. The results revealed that, out of 255 samples collected from pregnant women, 162 were positive indicating the prevalence of 63.50%. Morphological characteristics of the parasites confirmed the presence of Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium malariae, the highest frequency being at the second trimester with 81.1% and 18.9% respectively. The results also revealed that out of 300 blood samples collected from patients suspected of suffering from malaria 280 samples had the parasites with P falciparum (53.9%), P. vivax (23.9%), P. malariae (16.80%) and P. ovale (5.4%). It was also observed that the disease was more prevalent in female patients than in their male counterparts. This infestation was attributed to the fact that female expose their extremities more than males and the poor drainage systems prevailing in this area. Key words: falciparum malaria, anaemia, gametocytes, haematim, abortion. Journal of Biomedical Investigation Vol.1 2003: 48-5