Malaria is one of the major health problems in the world. It remains an important cause of very high human morbidity and mortality, especially, among children and pregnant women. It results from the infection of parasites belonging to the genus Plasmodium. Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax are the major pathogens responsible for causing human malaria. Approximately 75% of cases are caused by P. falciparum and associated with the mortality rate of approximately 0.5 to 1.0%. Both P. falciparum and P. vivax induce anemia during their erythrocytic stages of infection. Most of the malarial infections are related to some degree of anemia, the severity of which depends upon patient-specific characteristics (e.g., age, innate and acquired resistance, comorbid features, etc.) as well as parasite-specific characteristics (e.g., species, adhesive, and drug-resistant phenotype, etc.). Malarial anemia encompasses reduced production of erythrocytes as well as increased removal of circulating erythrocytes in the bone marrow. Susceptibility to severe malarial anemia is associated with the polymorphisms of the cytokines, which are likely to function by perturbing erythropoiesis. This article reviews the epidemiology, pathophysiology, clinical features, treatment, and various complications occurring due to malarial anemia. The second part of this article also focuses on the effect of malaria during pregnancy. Some significant effects of malaria during pregnancy include spontaneous abortion, preterm delivery, low birthweight, stillbirth, congenital infection, and maternal death.
How to cite this article
Saxena R, Bhatia A, Midha K, Debnath M, Kaur P. Malaria: A Cause of Anemia and Its Effect on Pregnancy. World J Anemia. 2017;1(2):51-62.