RESUMO
OBJECTIVE: To understand the characteristics of imported malaria cases in Qingcheng District, Qingyuan City and explore the strategies and priorities in prevention and control, so as to provide the evidence for improving the diagnosis, treatment and management of imported malaria. METHODS: The data of imported malaria as well as the case epidemiological investigations were collected and retrospectively analyzed for the species composition, original countries, population distribution, regional distribution, onset situation, diagnosis, treatment, etc. in Qingcheng District from 2011 to 2016. RESULTS: The number of imported malaria cases was 13 from 2011 to 2016. All the patients were confirmed by laboratory, and of which, 9 patients infected with Plasmodium falciparum, 1 with P. vivax, 1 with P. ovale and 2 with mixed infections (P. vivax and P. falciparum). The yearly incidence of imported malaria presented an uptrend. The infection sources of all the patients were from African countries, and the exported labor workers and travelers for business from malaria endemic areas were the high risk population. The reported time was mainly January, February, November and December (11/13, 84.62%). All the patients were male, and the majority of them (12/13, 2.31%) were 21-60 years old. The median time from onset to seeing a doctor was 2.5 days and the median time from seeing a doctor to being diagnosed was 1.9 day. Six patients (46.15%) were diagnosed as other diseases at the first visit to a doctor, and one patient died of falciparum malaria because of delayed diagnosis. CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of overseas imported malaria presents an uptrend in Qingcheng District. It is necessary to further strengthen the professional training in medical staff to improve the diagnosis and treatment of malaria cases. It is also necessary to strengthen the multisectoral cooperation, establish the surveillance in the high risk population, etc.
