Training Manual for Preventive Malaria - Ministry of Health

UNIT 1
MALARIA IN PREGNANCY
This unit describes malaria with special reference to pregnant women and their unborn babies.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
At the end of this unit, participants will be able to:
1. Describe how malaria is transmitted.
2. Identify the group of people at highest risk of malaria infection.
3. List the effects of malaria on pregnant women and their unborn babies.
4. HIV/AIDS and Malaria in pregnancy
5. Describe control strategies for malaria in pregnancy.
TEACHING / LEARNING METHODS:
• Lecturette
• Discussion
• Role Play
INTRODUCTION
Malaria is a disease caused by a group of parasites called Plasmodium. Of the four types of
Plasmodium that affect humans, only one, Plasmodium falciparum, is of importance in Ghana.
It is found in the anopheles mosquito.
The anopheles mosquito breeds in clean and calm water collections therefore, breeding increases
dramatically in the rainy season because many artificial water collections occur; -
- Domestic sources- Collection of water in bottles, tins, coconut shells, buckets, tyres etc.
- Water sources/irrigation sites- Wells, ponds, dams, water tanks, paddy fields etc.
- Construction sites- Water on the concrete slabs (used for curing) collected in tanks, collected
in and around the construction site owing to blockage of drains.
It is very important to destroy these artificial water collections or to keep them properly covered
to prevent breeding
1.1: HOW MALARIA IS TRANSMITTED
The infected female mosquitoes from the Anopheles genus spread the malaria parasite.
When the infective female Anopheles mosquito bites its victim, it injects saliva that contains
parasites (sporozoite) into the human blood. The parasites are then carried to the human liver
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