{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,21]],"date-time":"2026-02-21T08:39:12Z","timestamp":1771663152055,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":46,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,3,25]],"date-time":"2021-03-25T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1616630400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS ONE"],"abstract":"<jats:sec id=\"sec001\">\n<jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>Asymptomatic <jats:italic>Plasmodium<\/jats:italic> infection (API) that occurs during pregnancy increases the risk of stillbirths, abortion, premature delivery, and low birth weight. API also hinders the control and prevention of malaria as infected hosts serve as silent reservoirs for transmission of <jats:italic>Plasmodium species<\/jats:italic> in the community.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec002\">\n<jats:title>Objective<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of API and associated factors among pregnant women. This community-based cross-sectional study was conducted at Merti district, Oromia, Ethiopia among 364 pregnant women from March to September 2018.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec003\">\n<jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>Sociodemographic and obstetrics features were collected using a structured questionnaire. About 2ml of blood was collected from participants to detect <jats:italic>Plasmodium<\/jats:italic> species, gametocyte carriage rate, parasite density, and anemia.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec004\">\n<jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>The prevalence of API among pregnant women was 3.6%. The proportion of <jats:italic>Plasmodium falciparum<\/jats:italic> and <jats:italic>Plasmodium vivax<\/jats:italic> was 6(46.2%) and 7(53.8%) respectively. Out of 13 <jats:italic>Plasmodium<\/jats:italic> species identified, Gametocyte carriage rate was 4(30.7%). The geometric mean density of the asexual stage of the parasites was 994.7(interquartile [IQR], 320 to 2200) parasites\/ul. The geometric mean gametocyte density was 303.3 (interquartile range [IQR], 160 to 600). The proportion of anemia among <jats:italic>Plasmodium<\/jats:italic>-infected participants was 12(92.3%). Previous infection by <jats:italic>Plasmodium<\/jats:italic> species (AOR = 5.42; 95% CI: 1.19\u201329.03, <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic> = 0.047), lack of insecticide-treated bed net use (AOR = 6.52; 95% CI: 1.17\u201336.44, <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic> = 0.032), and living close to stagnant water (AOR = 4.18; 95% CI (1.12\u201317.36, <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic> = 0.049) were significantly associated with API. Anemia was significantly higher among <jats:italic>Plasmodium<\/jats:italic>-infected than non-infected pregnant women (<jats:italic>x<\/jats:italic><jats:sup>2<\/jats:sup> = 27.62, <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic> &lt;0.001).<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec005\">\n<jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>In the current study, a relatively high prevalence of API was detected among pregnant women. Identifying API in the community is important to prevent the unwanted outcomes of <jats:italic>Plasmodium<\/jats:italic> infection and its transmission.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0248074","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,3,25]],"date-time":"2021-03-25T20:27:00Z","timestamp":1616704020000},"page":"e0248074","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":21,"title":["Asymptomatic Plasmodium infection and associated factors among pregnant women in the Merti district, Oromia, Ethiopia"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"16","author":[{"given":"Bereket Wake","family":"Subussa","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Teferi","family":"Eshetu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3518-2372","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Teshome","family":"Degefa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7786-3400","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Musa Mohammed","family":"Ali","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,3,25]]},"reference":[{"issue":"25","key":"pone.0248074.ref001","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2435","DOI":"10.1056\/NEJMoa1606701","article-title":"Mapping Plasmodium falciparum mortality in Africa between 1990 and 2015","volume":"375","author":"PW Gething","year":"2016","journal-title":"New England Journal of Medicine"},{"key":"pone.0248074.ref002","volume-title":"World malaria report 2019","author":"WHO","year":"2019"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0248074.ref003","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e0007140","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pntd.0007140","article-title":"Growing evidence of Plasmodium vivax across malaria-endemic Africa","volume":"13","author":"KA Twohig","year":"2019","journal-title":"PLoS neglected tropical diseases"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0248074.ref004","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1186\/1756-3305-5-69","article-title":"A global map of dominant malaria vectors","volume":"5","author":"ME Sinka","year":"2012","journal-title":"Parasites & vectors"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0248074.ref005","first-page":"1","article-title":"The dominant Anopheles vectors of human malaria in Africa, Europe and the Middle East: occurrence data, distribution maps and bionomic pr\u00e9cis","volume":"3","author":"ME Sinka","year":"2010","journal-title":"Parasites & vectors"},{"issue":"3","key":"pone.0248074.ref006","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.4103\/1596-3519.68352","article-title":"Malaria among antenatal clients attending primary health care facilities in Kano state, Nigeria","volume":"9","author":"AU Gajida","year":"2010","journal-title":"Annals of African medicine"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0248074.ref007","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e1000221","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pmed.1000221","article-title":"Quantifying the number of pregnancies at risk of malaria in 2007: a demographic study","volume":"7","author":"S Dellicour","year":"2010","journal-title":"PLoS Med"},{"issue":"sup1","key":"pone.0248074.ref008","first-page":"S25","article-title":"Malaria in pregnancy and its consequences for the infant in rural Malawi. 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