Malaria in pregnancy: diagnosing infection and identifying fetal risk

Abstract

Despite increased malaria control efforts, recent reports indicate that over 1.2 million deaths due to malaria occurred in 2010. Pregnant women represent a particularly vulnerable risk group as malaria infection can lead to life-threatening disease for the mother and fetus. With 125 million women at risk of malaria in pregnancy every year, better diagnostic tools are needed for timely identification and treatment of malaria infection. Diagnostic surveillance tools are also needed to estimate disease burden and inform public health policies. In this review, the authors focus on malaria diagnostics in pregnancy and discuss considerations for different Plasmodium species and geographic regions. The authors also look at promising diagnostic modalities to monitor fetal and maternal health in pregnancy and discuss implementation barriers for low resource settings.

Keywords::

• biomarker
• flow cytometry
• histology
• intermittent screening and treatment
• light microscopy
• mass spectrometry
• PCR
• placental malaria
• rapid diagnostic test
• submicroscopic

Financial & competing interests disclosure

This work was supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research MOP-13721 (KC Kain) and MOP-115160, Global Alliance to Prevent Preterm Birth and Stillbirth and Grand Challenges in Global Health: Preventing Preterm Birth Initiative Grant No. 12003 (KC Kain), and Canada Research Chair in Molecular Parasitology (KC Kain). The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.