efficiency of a malaria screening program among Afghan refugees in Kerman, Islamic Republic of Iran

ABSTRACT

Evaluation of a malaria screening program was carried out in two screened Afghan refugee camps in Bardsir and Rafsanjan and compared to non-screened Afghan refugees within Kerman, as well as refugees with malaria diagnosed by Communicable Disease Control [CDC] Laboratories in Kerman and Rafsanjan, by parasitological blood examinations. The study involved 456 residents of two refugee camps and random samples of 512 refugees in the Kerman Bus Terminal and 1300 persons referred to Kerman and Rafsanjan CDC laboratories, aged from 1 to 70 years.Malaria was found in 403 [17.8%] of the persons examined. Plasmodium vivax was identified in 85.1%, Plasmodium fulciparum in 13.6% and mixed infection due to both of these species was found in 1.3% of the cases. The prevalence of parasitemia in screened camps was 4 times lower than non-screened active cases detected. A comparison of age-specific rates of malaria in screened and non-screened Afghan refugees indicated that screening programs are highly effective. The Afghan refugees bring high infection loads with them from outside and cause an out break of the infection, particularly in areas of Iran where malaria is under control. Therefore, malaria control in Afghan refugees in Iran should be primarily based on curative as well as preventive measures: