BACKGROUND The effort to reduce the burden of malaria should target transmission in the community by accurate identification of asymptomatic infections. In malaria-endemic areas, asymptomatic malaria infection is still associated with complications. Malaria during pregnancy is characterized by anaemia and placental malaria, leading to low birth weight and perinatal morbidity and mortality. This study aimed to provide reliable data on the burden of asymptomatic malaria among pregnant women in malaria endemic areas of North-Shoa, Ethiopia. METHODS Cross-sectional study was carried out to assess the prevalence and predictors of asymptomatic malaria in pregnant women from November 2018 to January 2019. Multistage sampling technique was employed to include 263 study participants. Data were analysed using SPSS version 20.0 statistical software. In all comparisons, p-values ≤ 0.05 was considered as statistically significant. RESULTS The prevalence of asymptomatic malaria infection was 5.7% (15/263) and 3.4% (9/263) by using microscopy and RDTs, respectively. Plasmodium falciparum was a dominant species 9 (3.4%) and Plasmodium vivax accounted for 6 (2.3%) of Plasmodium infections as detected by microscopy. Multivariate analysis showed that ITN usage and haemoglobin level had a statistically significant association with Plasmodium infection after adjusting other possible factors. Compared to those who were using ITN always, the odds of Plasmodium infection was 18.16 times higher (95% CI 1.84-179.07) in pregnant women who were not using ITN, and 5.19 times higher (95% CI 0.55-49.21) in pregnant women who were using ITN sometimes. Asymptomatic malaria infected pregnant women were 3.78 times (95% CI 0.98-14.58) more likely to be anaemic compared to non-infected pregnant women. CONCLUSION The present study showed asymptomatic malaria is prevalent in pregnant women and it has statistically significance association with the haemoglobin level of pregnant women. This indicates pregnant women have to be screened for asymptomatic malaria to avoid health consequences of malaria infection during pregnancy for the mother and fetus.

中文翻译：

---

埃塞俄比亚北绍阿疟疾流行地区参加产前护理的孕妇无症状疟疾感染：一项横断面研究。

背景技术减少疟疾负担的努力应通过准确鉴定无症状感染来针对社区传播。在疟疾流行地区，无症状疟疾感染仍与并发症相关。怀孕期间的疟疾的特征是贫血和胎盘疟疾，导致出生体重低，围产期发病和死亡。这项研究旨在提供有关埃塞俄比亚北部绍阿疟疾流行地区孕妇无症状疟疾负担的可靠数据。方法从2018年11月至2019年1月，进行横断面研究以评估孕妇无症状疟疾的患病率和预测因素。采用多阶段抽样技术，纳入263名研究参与者。使用SPSS 20.0版统计软件分析数据。在所有比较中，p值≤0.05被认为具有统计学意义。结果通过显微镜检查和RDT，无症状疟疾感染率分别为5.7％（15/263）和3.4％（9/263）。通过显微镜检测，恶性疟原虫是主要的物种9（3.4％），间日疟原虫占疟原虫感染的6（2.3％）。多因素分析表明，在调整其他可能因素后，ITN的使用和血红蛋白水平与疟原虫感染有统计学意义的关联。与一直使用ITN的人相比，不使用ITN的孕妇中疟原虫感染的几率高18.16倍（95％CI 1.84-179.07），而孕妇则是5.19倍（95％CI 0.55-49.21）有时正在使用ITN的人。无症状疟疾感染的孕妇为3。与未感染孕妇相比，贫血的可能性高78倍（95％CI 0.98-14.58）。结论本研究表明无症状疟疾在孕妇中普遍存在，并且与孕妇的血红蛋白水平具有统计学意义。这表明必须对孕妇进行无症状疟疾筛查，以避免孕妇和胎儿在怀孕期间感染疟疾对健康的影响。