Severe Malaria in Immigrant Population: A Retrospective Review

Abstract

Imported malaria continues to be an increasing medical challenge in the US. A significant proportion of imported malaria occurs in foreign born immigrants visiting their native countries and do not take prophylaxis for malaria mostly due to a misconception of being immune to malaria. The purpose of this study is to review epidemiology, clinical presentation, rate of prophylaxis and delineate the rate of severe malaria in a community hospital with largely immigrant population. Retrospective chart review of forty patients diagnosed with malaria from 1997 to 2007 at a 673 bed teaching hospital in Newark, NJ, USA. Of the 40 cases included, 90% were born in a malaria endemic area (MEA).The Majority (85%) acquired malaria while visiting the African subcontinent. Overall prophylaxis rate was only 12%. Plasmodium falciparum was the most common malaria species diagnosed. Severe malaria was diagnosed in 25% of the cases, all in foreign born subjects visiting native countries where malaria is endemic. Malaria continues to be a challenge in a population of immigrants visiting their country of origin. Low use of prophylaxis is of major concern in immigrant population especially in light of high rates of severe malaria. Primary care physicians play an important role in pre-travel advice to prevent the complications of malaria.

Imported Malaria in Countries where Malaria Is Not Endemic: a Comparison of Semi-immune and Nonimmune Travelers

“…Imported malaria in France accounts for 50% of all imported malaria in Europe, and trends show a rise in the proportion of malaria patients with origins in sub-Saharan Africa who live in France and visit family and friends in their country of origin (7). Similar reports come from the United States, indicating that VFRs are among those most affected by imported malaria, which was acquired mostly in West Africa (24,25). Such findings are reflected by the intense malaria transmission in sub-Saharan African countries and patterns of travel between Africa and nonendemic settings (1,8,26).…”

Malaria among migrants in a university hospital in Colombia during 2018: A case series

“…Prevalence of P. vivax or P. falciparum among migrants in previously published reports [4][5][6][7] is variable according to the origin of migrants, P. falciparum being more frequent than P. vivax among migrants from sub-Saharan Africa than among those from Latin America. In our case series, P. vivax malaria was present in all.…”

“…P. vivax is known to be more common among migrants from Latin America (Table 1), and as in other case series, we found that migrants were young, with lower comorbidity, a lower proportion of severe malaria and similar clinical findings. [4][5][6][7] Interestingly, none of the malaria cases come from the Bolivar state, where Venezuelan malaria has been particularly frequent in recent years from internal migration for the purpose of gold-mining. 1 Despite the limitations of a retrospective study, we highlight that P. vivax malaria is the most common Plasmodium among Latin American migrants, which is a matter of concern for disease control programmes.…”

Malaria Prophylaxis: A Comprehensive Review

“…According to the Geosentinel surveillance system, they have a higher risk of malaria and other vector-borne diseases in comparison with others travellers [ 25 ]. An American study showed that 90% of malaria’s diagnosis in the USA during 1997 was in people born in endemic areas [ 26 ]. This data are confirmed by a later study from the USA, which assessed that 64.5% of patients with malaria’s diagnosis were recorded in travellers born in endemic area visiting friends and relatives [ 14 ].…”