Detection and clinical manifestation of placental malaria in southern Ghana

Peripheral blood film microscopy not only underestimates placental malaria. In this highly endemic setting, it also fails to identify malaria as a cause of foetal impairment. Sub-microscopic infections detected by a HRP2 test in seemingly aparasitaemic women increase the risks of anaemia and PD. These findings indicate that the burden of malaria in pregnancy may be even larger than thought and accentuate the need for effective anti-malarial interventions in pregnancy.