Women, and particularly children,
are the main victims of malaria.
Malaria, mothers
and children
Young children are the main victims of malaria:
almost one million die every year, mainly in inter-tropical regions.
Infection can have serious consequences for children as early as during
pregnancy, if the mother is infected with the parasite.
Vulnerability
Pregnant women are particularly vulnerable to malaria because of their diminished immune system
during this period. Effectively, and particularly in cases of a first pregnancy, the red blood cells that have been
infected with special strains of the parasite colonise the placenta. In subsequent pregnancies, the woman’s
immune system progressively learns to block this action.
Researchers are studying different means of protecting pregnant women from malaria. A so-called “intermittent preventive” treatment has recently been
developed. It consists in administering drugs that are both effective and well-tolerated on two occasions, at prenatal consultations. This makes it possible
to ensure that the treatment is actually taken. Another possibility currently being studied is the development of a vaccine that would allow pregnant
women to develop a specific immune response, protecting the placenta against the action of the parasites. As with everyone exposed to malaria,
pregnant women must protect themselves from mosquitoes by sleeping under a mosquito net that has been impregnated with insecticide.
Waiting room at a health clinic in Benin.
From foetal life onwards…
Although transmission of the parasite from mother to child via the placenta is rare, infection during
pregnancy disturbs mother-foetus exchanges and thus has a negative effect on the child development.
The infant’s resulting low birth weight will have serious consequences during his first few years, making him
more fragile when faced with malnutrition or other serious illnesses. Maternal malaria is thought to be
responsible for 3 to 8% of deaths in children aged between 0 and 2 years (75,000 to 200,000 deaths a year).
As soon as infants are born, they can be infected directly by mosquito bites. As they have not yet developed
a sufficiently effective immune system, they are thus more vulnerable to malaria. In certain children,
serious bouts of the disease can result in death.
Mosquito nets are essential
for protecting pregnant women
from malaria.
The main aim of the preventive measures against malaria during pregnancy (intermittent preventive treatment and impregnated mosquito nets)
is to indirectly protect the foetus. For newborn infants, researchers have proposed an intermittent preventive treatment, administered during
sessions of the “expanded program on immunization”. In low endemic areas, it is also possible to give this treatment during the rainy season,
when the risk of infection is highest. During evaluation, this apparently simple approach with its encouraging results has nevertheless raised
certain questions, notably how to implement it at a large scale.
Consultation with a pregnant woman in a rural area
in Cameroon.