Congenitally acquired malaria in a hyperendemic area: A cohort study.

Objective: To determine the prevalence of congenitally acquired malaria in Nnewi South eastern Nigeria Setting: Hospital based. Tertiary care centre in a tropical rain forest hyperendemic malaria zone. Materials/Subjects: Cross-sectional prospective study. Blood samples of 94 mother-baby pairs were examined for malaria parasitaemia Results: Out of the 94 mothers, 83 or 87.8% had received pyrimethamine prophylaxis throughout pregnancy. Despite this 50.0% were parasitized. 24.6% of neonates had malaria parasites. The birth weights of the infected neonates were not affected. Maternal parasite densities correlated with those of the babies. Conclusions: More effective antenatal antimalarial prophylaxis is needed to reduce the prevalence of congenitally acquired malaria. Tropical Journal of Medical Research 2004;8(2): 44-4