Research Paper: Causes, Treatment and Prevention of Malaria in Pregnant Women

Malaria is measured to be a primary cause of maternal morbidity around the globe. Also, malaria develops poor natal outcomes because expectant women are more prone to malaria infection complications compared to non-gravid women. Additionally, the highest statistics of malaria among pregnant women occurs in Africa. In most cases, the condition is characterized by malaria-related maternal illness as well as low birth weight due to the Plasmodium falciparum infection. This research is an outline of the causes, treatment as well as prevention measures against Malaria for pregnant women.

Causes

A parasite known as Plasmodium causes Malaria (Antinori et al., 2012). In most cases, Plasmodium microorganisms are transported and spread to humans by mosquitoes. Additionally, the type of mosquitos that are infected by the Plasmodium parasite is referred as the Anopheles mosquitos. When the infected mosquito bites an expectant woman, the Plasmodium parasite is directly released into her bloodstream. Consequently, this results in the development of malaria in the pregnant. Additionally, there are numerous forms of Plasmodium parasites. Nevertheless, only five forms of Plasmodium cause malaria.

These include Plasmodium falciparum, Plasmodium ovale, Plasmodium knowlesi, Plasmodium malariae and Plasmodium vivax. Plasmodium falciparum is mostly found in Africa, and it is the largest contributor to deaths among the expectant women worldwide. On the other hand, Plasmodium ovale is only found in West Africa, and it can reside in a pregnant woman for a while before producing any symptoms. Also, Plasmodium knowlesi is found in parts of Southeast Asia while Plasmodium malariae and vivax are found in Africa and South America respectively.

Prevention

There are four primary ways that pregnant women can use to protect themselves from contracting Malaria. The first method is to seek information from a doctor pertaining Malaria and Malaria infection in order to promote their risk awareness. Second, pregnant women should also prevent themselves from Malaria bites. This can be done using insect repellants, mosquito nets and using attires that cover their arms and legs. Additionally, through the guidance of a certified medical practitioner, expectant women can also take antimalarial tablets.

In such a case, it is essential for the antimalarial tablets users to ensure that they take the right tablets for preventing malaria. Also, such tablets should be taken in the right proportions to avoid hurting the fetus. Moreover, the expectant woman using the tablets should ensure that she completes the full dosage of the prescribed Antimalarial drugs. Lastly, it is important for the pregnant woman to ensure that she attains a regular malaria checkup, every time she visits the hospital for antenatal clinics.

Treatment

Since the early 19th century, there have been numerous drugs used to treat malaria. Quinine was the first drugs which were used for malaria treatment until the 1930s (Hobbs & Duffy, 2011). Additionally, Chloroquine was used in the 1940s, shortly after the Second World War, as a better drug for treatment and prophylaxis of malaria (Achan, et al., 2011). Also, Atebrin, also referred as Mepacrine, was used between 1939 and 1945, as a more effective malaria treatment than Atebrin (Snow et al., 2012). Later, during the 1970s, the resistance to Malaria treatments in the world had significantly increased (Porter-Kelley, et al., 2010).

Consequently, this led to the development of Mefloquine, which was also called Lariam, for treatment and prophylaxis of malaria. The drug was invented in 1971, and it was structurally-related to quinine (Wipf, et al., 2009). Furthermore, Halofantrine, also known as Halfan, was invented in the 1980s (Croft, 2007). Nevertheless, Halofantrine was not appropriate for prophylaxis due to its short half-life that lasted only for 2 days (Croft, 2007).

Later, Malarone was invented in the 1990s as an effective drug for malaria treatment and prevention (Wichmann, et al., 2004). Additionally, Malarone was a combination drug made up of proguanil and atovaquone drugs. Today, 8 primary drugs are employed for malaria treatment. These include chloroquine, quinidine, quinine, clindamycin, atovaquone-proguanil, mefloquine, doxycycline as well as artemether-lumefantrine.

Conclusion

In conclusion, malaria is considered to be a primary cause of maternal morbidity around the globe. The disease is caused by mosquitos that are infected by the Plasmodium parasite, which are referred as the Anopheles mosquitos. Furthermore, the five forms of Plasmodium parasites that cause malaria include; Plasmodium falciparum, Plasmodium ovale, Plasmodium knowlesi, Plasmodium malariae and Plasmodium vivax. Additionally, pregnant women can prevent themselves from contracting malaria through seeking malaria preventive information from the doctor, using insect repellants, mosquito nets and using attires that cover their arms and legs. Additionally, they can use antimalarial tablets and also attain regular malaria checkups during their antenatal clinics. Ultimately, the drugs used for malaria treatment today include chloroquine, quinidine, quinine, clindamycin, atovaquone-proguanil, mefloquine, doxycycline as well as artemether-lumefantrine.

References

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