Malaria is a parasitic infection that is caused by the protozoan Plasmodium, which is transmitted to humans through the bites of infected female Anopheles mosquitoes. Nigeria has the highest global burden of Malaria, and Malaria remains endemic in Nigeria. The effect of Malaria in pregnant women remains far-reaching. With specific preventive measures, the effects of Malaria in pregnancy can be greatly reduced. One of such preventive measures is the use of Long-Lasting Insecticide Treated nets (LLITNs) in pregnancy. These are nets that have been treated with insecticide and can repel mosquitoes – the vectors of Malaria. When appropriately used, the nets have been shown to reduce the burden of Malaria in pregnant women. This study was to determine the knowledge of Malaria in pregnancy and the utilization of LLITNs among pregnant women attending Antenatal Care services in a secondary health care centre in South- South Nigeria. A descriptive cross-sectional study of all consenting pregnant women attending Antenatal Care (ANC) services in a secondary health care facility was carried out from 1st August 2024 to 31st October 2024. A semi-structured questionnaire was administered to 154 women, and there was 100% response rate. Knowledge less than 60% was considered poor, and utilisation of LLITNs less than 60% was equally considered poor when scaled according to bloom cut-off categories. Collected Data was analysed using SPSS IBM version 27, and a P value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. More than half of the respondents, 80(51.9%), did not know that Malaria in pregnancy was harmful to the pregnant woman, and 96(62.3%) were unaware that Malaria was harmful to the foetus. 92(59.7%) agreed that Malaria can be prevented, and 64(41.5%) admitted that LLITNs can be used to prevent Malaria in pregnancy. 68(44.1%) had good knowledge while 86(55.8%) had poor knowledge. Overall, knowledge was adjudged to be poor. Only 80 (51.9%) of the respondents currently owned the LLITNs, and 67(43.5%) of the respondents slept under the LLITNs in this index pregnancy. Overall, utilisation of the LLITNs was adjudged to be poor. The results from this study revealed that the knowledge that LLITNs can be a tool in the prevention of Malaria in pregnancy, and their actual utilisation was unsatisfactory. Real utilisation of the LLITNs among these Antenatal attendees is still low.
Ogwu et al. (Sat,) studied this question.