Effectiveness of Intermittent Preventive Treatment in Pregnancy with Sulphadoxine-Pyrimethamine against Malaria in Northern Nigeria

Abstract

Malaria in pregnancy remains a major public health concern, in spite of the adoption of WHO recommended intermittent preventive treatment (IPTp) with sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP) for its control in Nigeria. We conducted a cross –sectional study of 108 consenting pregnant women attending antenatal clinic at Bingham University Teaching Hospital in Jos, Nigeria between August–December 2017. Malaria infection was detected by microscopy and haemoglobin was measured and anaemia was defined as haemoglobin lower than 11 g/dL. A total of 79 (73.1%) IPTp users and 29 (26.9%) non-IPTp users were recruited. A total of 11.1% of IPTp users had malaria compared with 25.0% of non-IPTp users (P < 0.01). A total of 16.7% of non-IPTp users were anemic compared with 1.9% of IPTp users (P < 0.01). After controlling for other variables the effect of IPTp-SP remained statistically significant (P<0.01). Conclusion: These results suggest that Intermittent Preventive Treatment with Sulphadoxine-Pyrimethamine is useful in preventing malaria and anaemia among pregnant women in Nigeria.