Thursday 24 March 2011

MALARIA: Congenital malaria in calabar, Nigeria: the molecular perspective.

Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2011 Mar;84(3):386-9.

Oduwole OA, Ejezie GC, Odey FA, Oringanje CM, Nwakanma D, Bello S, Oriero E, Okebe J, Alaribe AA, Etuk S, Meremikwu M.
Institute of Tropical Diseases Research and Prevention, University of Calabar Teaching Hospital, Calabar, Nigeria; United Kingdom Medical Research Council Laboratories, Fajara, The Gambia.

Abstract.
Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) has been shown to be more sensitive in detecting low-level parasitemia than conventional blood film microscopy. We estimated the prevalence of congenital malaria using nested PCR amplification of the small subunit 18S RNA gene to detect low-level parasitemia and identify Plasmodium species in 204 mother-neonate pairs. Cord-blood parasitemia was detected in four babies by PCR, giving a prevalence of 2.0%. The newborns of primidgravidae were more susceptible to congenital malaria than those of multigravidae (P < 0.0001). There was a strong correlation between placental malaria and congenital malaria (odds ratio = 10.1, 95% confidence interval = 1.3-76.1, P = 0.0487). We conclude that the prevalence of congenital malaria in Calabar detected by PCR is lower than has been reported in this environment through microscopy.

PMID: 21363974 [PubMed - in process]PMCID: PMC3042812 [Available on 2012/3/4]

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