Malaria after international travel: a GeoSentinel analysis, 2003–2016

Details

• Alternative Title:
  Malar J
• Personal Author:
  Angelo, Kristina M. ; Libman, Michael ; Caumes, Eric ; Hamer, Davidson H. ; Kain, Kevin C. ; Leder, Karin ; Grobusch, Martin P. ; Hagmann, Stefan H. ; Kozarsky, Phyllis ; Lalloo, David G. ; Lim, Poh-Lian ; Patimeteeporn, Calvin ; Gautret, Philippe ; Odolini, Silvia ; Chappuis, François ; Esposito, Douglas H.
• Corporate Authors:
  for the GeoSentinel Network
• Description:
  Background
  
  More than 30,000 malaria cases are reported annually among international travellers. Despite improvements in malaria control, malaria continues to threaten travellers due to inaccurate perception of risk and sub-optimal pre-travel preparation.
  
  Methods
  
  Records with a confirmed malaria diagnosis after travel from January 2003 to July 2016 were obtained from GeoSentinel, a global surveillance network of travel and tropical medicine providers that monitors travel-related morbidity. Records were excluded if exposure country was missing or unascertainable or if there was a concomitant acute diagnosis unrelated to malaria. Records were analyzed to describe the demographic and clinical characteristics of international travellers with malaria.
  
  Results
  
  There were 5689 travellers included; 325 were children <18 years. More than half (53%) were visiting friends and relatives (VFRs). Most (83%) were exposed in sub-Saharan Africa. The median trip duration was 32 days (interquartile range 20–75); 53% did not have a pre-travel visit. More than half (62%) were hospitalized; children were hospitalized more frequently than adults (73 and 62%, respectively). Ninety-two per cent had a single Plasmodium species diagnosis, most frequently Plasmodium falciparum (4011; 76%). Travellers with P. falciparum were most frequently VFRs (60%). More than 40% of travellers with a trip duration ≤7 days had Plasmodium vivax. There were 444 (8%) travellers with severe malaria; 31 children had severe malaria. Twelve travellers died.
  
  Conclusion
  
  Malaria remains a serious threat to international travellers. Efforts must focus on preventive strategies aimed on children and VFRs, and chemoprophylaxis access and preventive measure adherence should be emphasized.
  
  
• Subjects:
  GeoSentinel Humans International Travel Malaria Plasmodium Plasmodium Spp Research Risk Travel
• Source:
  Malar J. 16.
• Pubmed ID:
  28728595
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC5520359
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Funding:
  U50 CK000189/CK/NCEZID CDC HHS/United States
• Volume:
  16
• Collection(s):
  CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:560c144c8072cc48ce5b767d9f7f1fe76d458a61d020698913eeff674c167ce8
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/46938/cdc_46938_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.01 MB ]