Is anyone researching the relationship between malaria and pre eclampsia? Malaria parasites invade the placenta, and are involved with maternal deaths, stillbirth, prematurity and small for gestational age babies. Pre eclampsia emanates from the placenta causing similar problems plus maternal hypertension, oedema and proteinuria, and can move on to eclampsia with fitting and death. Could placental malaria cause pre eclampsia? I was a midwife for many years.
Kerre Ann Willsher, PhD
This would take serious research, including microscopy of placentae and control groups (and of course checking the literature for relevant studies). I live in Europe now, have no acces to placentae affected by malaria. I remember from when working in Zimbabwe, where real winters exist and also a malaria season, depending on how wet de year was, that preeclampsia was more prevalent in the cold season, the theory was that superficial blood vessels contracted more then to the preserve warmth while at the same time decreasing the intravascular space and thus increasing the BP. This could be confused with malarial BP influence. Malaria disappeared completely in the winter, but was worse at the end of summer (infected mosquito's had to get first access from warmer countries and areas in spring, mostly by bus (little by train, car, plane) to establish themselves. I don't know off hand if there is seasonality in preeclampsia in Europe/North America.
I once attended SLCOG Golden Jubilee Conference. One of the speakers from Japan had listed malaria as a risk factor for preeclampsia. This was intriguing for sure.
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