Infectious diseases in pregnancy Archives - Revista Brasileira de Ginecologia e Obstetrícia

PURPOSE: to describe the frequency of clinical and laboratorial findings in pregnant women with malaria. METHODS: a descriptive study was performed including 445 pregnant women with a positive diagnosis of malaria of the Maternity and women's Clinic Bárbara Heliodora (Rio Branco, Acre State), from January 1996 to December 2001. These cases were reviewed and the pregant women with malaria were selected. RESULTS: a total of 33,420 patients were hospitalized in that period. Of these, 445 pregnant women (1.4%) were included. Among these, the frequency of the infection with Plasmodium vivax was 52.8% (n=235), with P. falciparum, 43.8% (n=195), and 3.4% (n=15) with both plasmodia. The most frequent clinical and laboratorial alterations (p<0.05) were observed in the patients with P. falciparum: pale mucosa, jaundice hemoglobin and hematocrit decrease, hypoglycemia and increase in serum aminotransferase, urea, creatinine and in bilirubin levels. Only one patient (1/445), a pregnant woman infected with P. falciparum died. Abortions, premature birth and low birth weight were detected in 1.3, 1.1 and 1.1% of the cases, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: these findings reflect the repercussion of malaria during pregnancy, and justify the existence of qualified medical care in obstetric units for diagnosis and treatment of these cases, especially in the Amazon region.