Association of gestational malaria with intrauterine growth restriction and low birth weight in the far-western Brazilian Amazon

Abstract

Malaria is a major public health problem in different regions of the world, especially in developing countries, causing one million deaths annually, mainly children and pregnant women. Malaria in pregnancy is characterized by the presence of Plasmodium spp. in the peripheral blood or the placenta Malaria in Pregnancy may result in maternal anemia, intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR), low birth weight (LBW) and reduced fetal viability. Plasmodium vivax (P. vivax) is the dominant species of malaria outside of Africa, accounting for 25-40% of the cases of malaria worldwide. In Brazil, there is a predominance of infections by P. vivax, and about 95% of cases occur in the Amazon, with close to 500,000 new cases per year. Despite its high prevalence and its possible association with major complications during pregnancy, the effects of Plasmodium infections in pregnant women are still not fully understood. Both IUGR and LBW are strongly associated with neonatal mortality and morbidity, as well as inhibited growth and cognitive development in children with chronic diseases in adulthood. This project proposes to evaluate through both a retrospective and a prospective study, the magnitude of P. vivax and P. falciparum malaria in pregnant women in the Far-western Brazilian Amazon as well as estimating possible associations with LBW and IUGR. The knowledge of the impact of these infections on the placenta and on fetal development will bring an important contribution to the understanding of malaria during pregnancy, in addition to enabling new research directed at developing new diagnosis and treatment approaches. (AU)