New study compares approaches to prevent malaria in pregnancy
During pregnancy, infections with Plasmodium malaria parasites can be asymptomatic but still lead to maternal anemia, low birthweight, and fetal loss.. In areas where malaria is endemic, the World Health Organization currently recommends treating women with SP three or four times during pregnancy. But in some areas, more than 90 percent of Plasmodium parasites are now resistant to SP. In the new study, the researchers compared this standard of care to a screening approach where women are tested approximately monthly for malaria using rapid diagnostic tests and treated with a different drug, dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine (DP) only if positive for the parasite. The study involved 1873 HIV-negative women at three sites in Malawi who were randomly assigned to receive either strategy. The prevalence of adverse birth outcomes and maternal deaths was similar in the two groups. However, there were eight percent more cases of malaria at delivery in women assigned to the rapid screening...