Epidemiology of malaria presenting at British Columbia's Children's Hospital, 1984-2001: lessons for prevention.

BACKGROUND: Few studies have examined the epidemiology of imported malaria in Canadian children. Identifying populations at increased risk in Canada would enable targeted malaria prevention strategies within those groups. The study objective was to describe the epidemiology of malaria diagnosed at British Columbia's Children's Hospital (BCCH) between 1984 and 2001. METHODS: This was a retrospective chart review of malaria cases identified at BCCH and confirmed through the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control. Demographic and clinical data were recorded on a standardized form. RESULTS: Malaria was diagnosed 42 times in 40 children (age 24 days to 14.8 years). Thirty cases (71.4%) occurred in 28 Canadian residents, and 12 (28.6%) occurred in immigrant or refugee children. Twenty-six children (65%) were male. Thirty-one children (77.5%) were of East Indian descent. Thirty-three exposures (78.6%) to malaria occurred in the Indian subcontinent. Plasmodium vivax was identified in 37 cases (88.1%), P. falciparum in 3 (7.1%), and the species was unknown in 2 (4.8%). Fourteen cases in the resident children (46.7%) reported pre-travel counselling. Ten resident cases (33.3%) were prescribed chemoprophylaxis, primarily chloroquine, and at least six of them (60%) were non-compliant. The duration of symptoms prior to diagnosis was < 7 days in 27 cases (64.3%), 8 to 30 days in 10 (23.8%), > 30 days in 4 (9.5%) and the duration was unknown in 1 (2.5%). Twenty-four of 36 cases (66.7%) had seen 2 to more than 4 doctors before the diagnosis of malaria was made. CONCLUSION: The majority of children in our review were of East Indian origin and were exposed to malaria in India. Most had not sought or had received inadequate pre-travel counselling and had been non-compliant with chemoprophylaxis. As malaria is a potentially lethal but preventable disease, strategies to ensure adequate pre-travel counselling for high-risk groups are required.

Congenital right ventricular diverticulum in association with disseminated neonatal hemangiomatosis.

The case of a term infant with disseminated neonatal hemangiomatosis and congenital right ventricular diverticulum is reported. Visceral hemangiomas were present in the liver and kidneys and the patient had lower gastrointestinal bleeding that resolved. The right ventricular diverticulum remained clinically silent. The association of right ventricular diverticula and disseminated neonatal hemangiomatosis has not been previously documented in the literature.