Prevalence of Intestinal Helminthic Infections in Pregnant Women Attending Antenatal Clinic in Abeokuta, Nigeria

Abstract

Intestinal infections during pregnancies are recorded with common factors which include prenatal mortality, poor nutritional status, impaired growth, low birth weight, anaemia and disease burden. It is one of the major public health problems in developing nations. This survey was carried out with 100 pregnant women attending Oba Ademola II Maternity Hospital, Ijemo, Abeokuta, within six months to determine the infection prevalence, intensity, risk factors and packed cell volume (PCV) correlation. Determination of helminth was done by formo-ether sedimentation technique. Structured questionnaire was applied and analyzed using Analysis of variance (ANOVA). Results revealed the prevalence of Hookworm to be 18%, while that of Ascaris was 50%. Comparison of age between 18-45 years old and level of education was also taken into consideration. Personal hygiene was significantly associated with reduced likelihood of infection. From this study, it is evident that helminthic infections were prevalent among pregnant women. It is therefore recommended that antenatal clinics should incorporate routine stool examination for pregnant women to detect parasitic worms and refer positive cases for medical treatment and routine deworming of all pregnant women after the first trimester should also be encouraged.