Parasitologic Investigation of Malaria in Pregnant Women and the Use of Herbal Remedies in lagos West Senatorial District

Background: Malaria infection during pregnancy is a significant public health problem especially in an area of stable malaria transmission like Lagos, Nigeria. In the nation’s state of various economic predicaments and in respect to the culture of the people, the knowledge, attitude, and treatment practices of individuals about malaria causation, symptoms identification, are essential for effective control measures. This study assessed the knowledge, attitude and practice of pregnant women on the use of herbal remedies for malaria treatment in pregnancy in Lagos State.
Method: Thick and thin films slides prepared from venous blood of participants were examined on the microscope to determine the level of parasitaemia of pregnant women after which structured questionnaire was administered to determine the knowledge attitude and practice of pregnant women on the use of herbal remedies for treating malaria in pregnancy. The epi-info statistical software was used to compare factors associated with the knowledge, attitude and practice of pregnant women and malaria infection.
Results: The prevalence of malaria using pheripheral blood from 207 pregnant women that participated in the study was 5.31% with 90.9% cases of Plasmodium falciparum and 9.1% of Plasmodium ovale among the infected participants. There was a significant association (P< 0.05) between Malaria infection with socio-demographic factors such as educational level, (X² = 10.05; [df] = 3; P = 0.018), geo-political zone (X²=47.8; [df] = 13; P = 0.0001) and the hospital type used (X² = 5.7, P = 0.026). Good Perception about use of herbal remedies was significantly associated educational level (X²= 25, P=0.003), and gravidity (X² = 24.3, P = 0.018). It was observed that 60.9% of the respondents had a positive perception about herbal treatment while only 32.9% used herbal remedies in the treatment of malaria in pregnancy.
Discussion and Conclusion: There was low prevalence of parasitaemia among the pregnant women which may be connected with the current policy of intermittent preventive treatment of malaria among the pregnant women. Study participants were found to be infected with two main species of Plasmodium spp. of which the dorminant species was Plasmodium falciparum. The respondents had a high level of knowledge about malaria. The perception, preference and use of herbal remedies by pregnant women in Lagos-West Senatorial district of Lagos State in the treatment of malaria were influenced by cultural, socio-economic realities of the present time. There was no proof of effectiveness of herbal remedies in the treatment of malaria as those who used herbal remedies in the treatment of malaria in pregnancy were in highest proportion of those infected with malaria than the non-users.