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The prevalence of malaria at first antenatal visit in Blantyre, Malawi declined following a universal bed net campaign

Overview of attention for article published in Malaria Journal, October 2015
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Title
The prevalence of malaria at first antenatal visit in Blantyre, Malawi declined following a universal bed net campaign
Published in
Malaria Journal, October 2015
DOI 10.1186/s12936-015-0945-3
Pubmed ID
Authors

Sarah Boudová, Titus Divala, Patricia Mawindo, Lauren Cohee, Linda Kalilani-Phiri, Phillip Thesing, Terrie E. Taylor, Miriam K. Laufer

Abstract

Preventing malaria during pregnancy is important for the health of mothers and newborns. Interventions, which include distribution of bed nets and administration of intermittent preventive treatment (IPT), typically occur at the first antenatal visit, usually in the second or third trimester of pregnancy. In 2012, during the course of ongoing clinical studies of malaria among pregnant women in Malawi, a universal bed net campaign was implemented by the Government. This study tested the hypothesis that a universal bed net campaign would decrease the prevalence of malaria among pregnant women at their first antenatal visit. Some 1661 women were recruited for two studies from 2009 to 2014. Quantitative PCR (qPCR) was conducted from dried blood spots collected at the first antenatal care visit (prior to administration of IPT or any study interventions) from women who were in their first or second pregnancy and less than 28 weeks gestation by clinical assessment. Overall, 320 of 1629 (19.6 %) women tested for malaria at their first antenatal visit were infected. Malaria infection rates declined from 28.4 % before the universal bed net campaign, to 18.5 % in 2012, to 15.0 % in the years following the universal bed net campaign. The odds of malaria infection at the time of first antenatal visit in 2012 and the years following the bed net campaign were significantly lower than in the years prior to the intervention (OR 0.6, 95 % CI 0.4-0.8; and OR 0.4, 95 % CI 0.3-0.6, respectively). A similar pattern was observed for the prevalence of clinical malaria. The inverse trend was observed for reported bed net use. However bed net use and malaria infection were not significantly associated on the individual level. Malaria infection in pregnant women is common even after a bed net campaign in Malawi, though prevalence rates declined. These early infections may cause maternal anaemia and placental malaria resulting in adverse maternal and fetal outcomes. Infection early in pregnancy may also contribute to malaria transmission as pregnant women represent a significant untreated reservoir of parasites. Universal bed net distribution appears to have moderate success in preventing malaria early in pregnancy and these findings support continued efforts to target women early in pregnancy and all women of childbearing age.

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Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 124 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
Ethiopia 1 <1%
Nigeria 1 <1%
Unknown 122 98%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Student > Master 19 15%
Researcher 18 15%
Student > Ph. D. Student 10 8%
Student > Bachelor 8 6%
Lecturer 6 5%
Other 18 15%
Unknown 45 36%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Nursing and Health Professions 24 19%
Medicine and Dentistry 23 19%
Social Sciences 6 5%
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology 5 4%
Agricultural and Biological Sciences 4 3%
Other 11 9%
Unknown 51 41%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 2. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 09 November 2015.
All research outputs
#14,240,471
of 22,831,537 outputs
Outputs from Malaria Journal
#3,964
of 5,572 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#147,730
of 284,657 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Malaria Journal
#98
of 158 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 22,831,537 research outputs across all sources so far. This one is in the 35th percentile – i.e., 35% of other outputs scored the same or lower than it.
So far Altmetric has tracked 5,572 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a little more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 6.8. This one is in the 24th percentile – i.e., 24% of its peers scored the same or lower than it.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 284,657 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one is in the 45th percentile – i.e., 45% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.
We're also able to compare this research output to 158 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one is in the 34th percentile – i.e., 34% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.