Malaria during pregnancy has adverse effects, including maternal mortality, miscarriage, and low birthweight. During early pregnancy, treatment options are limited, especially in regions with drug resistance. In a retrospective study covering a 25-year period (1986–2010), investigators compared outcomes between women with a single episode of malaria during the first trimester and women without malaria during pregnancy. The women came from a camp for displaced persons in a remote rural area near the Thai–Burmese border.
Among 17,613 pregnant women, 945 (5%) had a single episode of malaria during the first trimester. Risk for miscarriage was increased by 2.7-fold in women with asymptomatic malaria — and by nearly 4-fold in those with symptomatic malaria — compared with uninfected women. Risk was similar between vivax and falciparum infections and was higher in women with hyperparasitemic or severe malaria. Other risk factors for miscarriage included smoking, maternal age
26, previous miscarriage, and nonmalarial febrile illness. Miscarriage risk was similar whether the woman was treated with chloroquine, quinine, or artesunate. No excess or specific fetal abnormalities were associated with artesunate-containing therapies, but the numbers available for this group were small (44 deliveries to artesunate recipients).
Published in Journal Watch Infectious Diseases December 14, 2011
CITATION(S):
McGready R et al. Adverse effects of falciparum and vivax malaria and the safety of antimalarial treatment in early pregnancy: A population-based study. Lancet Infect Dis 2011 Dec 13; [e-pub ahead of print]. (http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S1473-3099(11)70339-5)
- Desai M and Dellicour S. Effects of malaria and its treatment in early pregnancy. Lancet Infect Dis 2011 Dec 13; [e-pub ahead of print]. (http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S1473-3099(11)70345-0)