Handling the case of malaria in a pregnant woman.

In my country, malaria is known to be a common illness we get to treat almost all the time, and I have also read that malaria is not safe for a pregnant woman, even because, a pregnant woman cannot just take needs to be careful with medications really got me thinking lately.

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A pregnant woman having malaria has a strong effect on both mother and child, in some cases, it leads to maternal anemia, premature delivery, fetal loss, giving birth to low-weight infants, and intrauterine growth retardation. The situation is more severe for women who are HIV positive and those with their first and second pregnancies.

Malaria is a parasitic infection that is caused by the four (4) species of plasmodium that infect humans: Ovale, vivax, malaria, and falciparum. Of these 4 species; Plasmodium falciparum happens to be the most deadly one. This infection is transmitted by the female anopheline mosquito, so factors such as humidity, rainfall, and temperature affect the occurrence of malaria.

Luckily, not all countries have to worry about getting malaria, but certainly, in my own country, malaria is indeed a big deal to worry about. Malaria happens when an mosquito infected takes a human blood meal, and the Plasmodium sporozoites are transferred from the saliva of the mosquito into the capillary bed of the host. Within the same hour of infection, the parasite could migrate to the liver, where it gets to undergo further cycling and replication before it gets released back into the bloodstream of the host.

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The incubation period from the stage of mosquitoe bite until clinical symptoms begin to appear will take about 7-30 days. The symptoms of malaria include; headache, fever, vomiting, myalgias, and nausea.

So many establishments have been made about repeated malaria infections leading to immunity. Regions, where the incidence of malaria is episodic instead of endemic, will result in a more severe form of the disease, as the immunity that seemed to have been earned, seems to fade as time goes on. It is for this reason that immunocompromised patients and malaria-naive patients are prone to more serious infections.

Children, pregnant women, travelers to malaria-prone regions, and those with HIV infection, stand a strong chance of getting more malaria problems. Malaria is clinically categorized into two; we have uncomplicated and severe. Uncomplicated malaria has two phases; the hot and the cold stage feature, giving cold sensation and shivering, while the hot stage with symptoms like; headache, sweating, fever, and seizures occurring from time to time.

The second subtype is caused by P falciparum, which is characterized by blood abnormalities and organ damage.
The prevention of malaria in pregnancy is dependent on the provision of pregnant women with insecticide-treated bed nets, administration of intermittent preventive treatment which is applicable for women who are HIV negative, then effective case management upon diagnosis.

Treatment of malaria should be initiated as early as detected, with drugs taken based on prescription only, the prescription will be dependent on the severity of the disease. Pregnant women should learn to strictly follow prescriptions and avoid the over/under-dose of drugs.

Cases of complications can happen when malaria is ignored, it could result in; seizures, coma, serious anemia, respiratory distress syndrome, and eventual death.

References.

https://www.cdc.gov/malaria/malaria_worldwide/reduction/iptp.html

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK1710/

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2021.777343/full

https://healththink.org/malaria-in-pregnancy-effects-and-solutions/

https://www.cancertherapyadvisor.com/home/decision-support-in-medicine/obstetrics-and-gynecology/malaria-in-pregnancy/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2760896/

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