Malaria Prevalence Among Pregnant Women ‎Attending Kwadon Primary Health Care, Yamaltu-‎Deba Local Government Area, Gombe State, Nigeria

Background: Malaria infection, particularly during pregnancy, is a major public health concern in Nigeria, and there is a scarcity of data on it prevalence and scope in many areas, especially in remote villages that lack basic infrastructure and adequate health facilities for treating and managing the disease. The study which was conducted from June to December, 2021 and investigated the prevalence of malaria among pregnant women in some selected villages of Yamaltu-Deba Local Government Area of Gombe State, Nigeria. Methods: 384 consented pregnant women attending antenatal at Kwadon primary health clinic were enrolled. Vein puncture technique was used to collect venous blood and analysed microscopically using Gemsa staining technique. Plasmodium falciparum-malaria was detected using microscope with x100 objective lens. Results: Malaria parasites were found in 81(21.09%) of the 384 samples collected, highest prevalence was documented from Wajari village. Malaria infection was not statistically linked with the respondents’ village (x^2=5.847, df=4, P 0.05). Older pregnant women aged 40-45 years had the highest prevalence of 2(40.00%), while subjects aged 36-40 years had the lowest prevalence of 36.0%. Malaria infection was not statistically associated with the subject’s age (x^2=4.816, df=6, P 0.05). Subjects in first trimester and multigravida had the highest prevalence of 02(28.57%) and 63(29.57%) respectively. Statistically malaria infection was not associated with the pregnant women’s trimester (x^2=0.355, df=2, P 0.05) and gravidity (x^2=1.825, df=2, P 0.05). Conclusion: In conclusion, moderate level of malaria infection was recorded from the selected villages and older pregnant women suffer most from the disease.