Prevalence and Intensity of Intestinal Parasites and Malaria in Pregnant Women at Abobo District in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire

A prospective study was carried out from 2010 to 2012 at the Hôpital Général d’Abobo (HGA) in Abidjan, in order to determine the impact of infectious and parasitic diseases on child cognitive development. Blood samples were examined by means of drop thick and blood smear, as for stool by direct examination and concentration by formalin-ether method. We evaluated the prevalence and the parasite load of malaria and gastrointestinal parasites and then investigated the risk factors for these disorders. Overall, 331 pregnant women in the last trimester of their pregnancy were enrolled. The plasmodic index was 3.9% with an infestation specific rate for P. falciparum of 100%. Concerning digestive protozoa, it has been observed 71.3% of nonpathogenic, against 9.7% of pathogens, either an overall prevalence of 51.4% of digestive parasites. The calculated average parasitic loads revealed 3089.2 tpz/μl of blood (95% CI, 591.1–5587.3) for malaria, 6.5 eggs per gram of stool (95% CI, 0.4–13.4) for intestinal helminths, and one (1) parasite by microscopic field for protozoa (common infestation). It has been shown that the occurrence of malaria has been linked to the nonuse of impregnated mosquito nets (χ2 = 0.012, p = 0.018) to age. No link could be established between the presence of digestive parasites and the age of pregnant women or socioeconomic conditions (level of education, profession, type of toilet). Malaria is less common in pregnant women, while the rate of digestive parasites remains high