TETANUS TOXOID ANTIBODY LEVEL IN ASYMPTOMATIC PLASMODIUM FALCIPARUM MALARIA PARASITEAMIC PREGNANT WOMEN

Abstract

The present study was designed to investigate if the presence of asymptomatic 
malaria parasiteamia in pregnant women will compromise their ability to respond to 
full dose of tetanus toxoid immunization during their antenatal clinic visits. Hence, 
90 apparently healthy pregnant women who had completed the tetanus toxoid 
immunization during the current pregnancy were recruited at the antenatal clinic 
and were divided into two groups based on the antenatal record of malaria paras 
during the immunization period. Sixty (66.7%) of the pregnant women were 
seroreactive for Plasmodium falciparum histidine rich protein- (HRP)-2 while 30 
(33.3%) were seronegative for Plasmodium falciparum HRP-2. The malaria 
parasite density range for the seroreactive group was between 322 and 1045 
parasites per ml of blood. The blood concentration of Tetanus toxoid antibody 
response in both groups of seroreactive and seronegative HRP-2 pregnant women 
did not show any significant difference in tetanus toxoid antibody response (p>O.2). 
This result showed that the presence of asymptomatic IPlasmodium falciparum 
malaria parasiteamia in the pregnant women during the immunization schedule did 
not compromise the ability to respond to tetanus toxoid immunization. Hence 
asymptomatic malaria may not contribute to the prevalence of neonatal tetanus in 
Nigeria, however, there is need to treat these pregnant women for asymptomatic 
malaria when detected in order to reduce the burden of malaria on them