Prevalence and risk factors of malaria and human immunodeficiency virus co-infection among pregnant women at Sokoto, Nigeria

BACKGROUND: Malaria in pregnant women is a significant cause of obstetric morbidity especially when there is co-infection with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). This cross-sectional study aimed to determine the prevalence of malaria parasitaemia and associated risk factors among HIV infected pregnant women in Sokoto State, North-Western Nigeria.
METHODS: 103 HIV infected pregnant women attending antenatal clinics of Sokoto state secondary hospitals were enrolled for this study. The socio-demographic variables and risk factors of malaria were assessed from all participants using int questionnaires. Malaria parasitaemia was detected using World Health Organization malaria microscopy protocol while CD4+ T cell count was performed using FASC count analyser.
RESULTS: 58 out of 103 (56.3%) pregnant women were infected with malaria parasites. All were P. falciparum. There was no significant association between malaria parasitaemia and all sociodemographic variables and risk factors of participants (p > 0.05). The mean (± standard deviation) CD4+ T-cell counts for pregnant women with malaria-HIV co-infection and HIV mono-infection were 127±45 cells/mm3 and 322±62 cells/mm3, respectively. The CD4+ T-cell counts of subjects with HIV/malaria co-infection were significantly (p < 0.001) lower than those with HIV mono-infection.
CONCLUSION: The prevalence of malaria recorded in this study is high, but with negative findings with regards to all sociodemographic variables of participants and risk factors of malaria.