The epidemiology of postpartum malaria: a systematic review

Boel, Machteld E, Rijken, Marcus J, Brabin, Bernard, Nosten, François and McGready, Rose (2012) 'The epidemiology of postpartum malaria: a systematic review'. Malaria Journal, Vol 11, e114.

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Abstract

Pregnant women are more susceptible to malaria than their non-pregnant counterparts. Less is known about the risk of malaria in the postpartum period. The epidemiology of postpartum malaria was systematically reviewed. Eleven articles fitted the inclusion criteria. Of the 10 studies that compared malaria data from the postpartum period with pregnancy data, nine studies suggested that the risk for malaria infection decreased after delivery. All three studies that compared postpartum data with non-pregnant non-postpartum women concluded that the risk did not return to pre-pregnancy levels immediately after delivery. The results of this review have to be carefully interpreted, as the majority of studies were not designed to study postpartum malaria, and there was large variability in study designs and reported outcomes. Current evidence suggests an effort should be made to detect and radically cure malaria during pregnancy so that women do not enter the postpartum period with residual parasites.

Item Type:	Article
Subjects:	WA Public Health > Health Problems of Special Population Groups > WA 310 Maternal welfare WC Communicable Diseases > Tropical and Parasitic Diseases > WC 750 Malaria WQ Obstetrics > Pregnancy Complications > WQ 256 Infectious diseases WQ Obstetrics > WQ 500 Postnatal care
Faculty: Department:	Groups (2002 - 2012) > Clinical Group
Digital Object Identifer (DOI):	https://doi.org/10.1186/1475-2875-11-114
Depositing User:	Lynn Roberts-Maloney
Date Deposited:	12 Dec 2014 12:31
Last Modified:	06 Feb 2018 13:08
URI:	https://archive.lstmed.ac.uk/id/eprint/4652

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