Malaria is a significant risk to miscarriage during the first trimester of pregnancy, but treatment with antimalarial drugs is relatively safe, new women's health research has revealed.
A study conducted at the Shoklo Malaria Research Unit in Thailand revealed 16,668 of the women who attended antenatal clinics at the facility in the last 25 years did not contract malaria during pregnancy, with 945 experiencing it during their first trimester but no later.
Approximately 20 per cent suffered a miscarriage without malaria being a factor, while the risk was increased to one in three pregnancies by the presence of asymptomatic malaria and one in two among those with symptomatic malaria.
The investigation - the results of which were published in the journal Lancet Infectious Diseases - was the largest of its kind and Dr Rose McGready of the Shoklo Malaria Research Unit explained understanding the risk of malaria "is essential for weighing up the treatment options".
"[While] the dangers of miscarriage are considerable, our study offers some good news, that the most common drugs reduce this risk significantly," she added.
Malaria caused around 781,000 deaths in 2009, according to figures from the World Health Organization, with the majority being African children.
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