Travelers’ Malaria

Malaria Risk in Travelers

Imported malaria has been an increasing problem in several Western countries in the last 2 decades. To calculate the risk factors of age, sex, and travel destination in Swedish travelers, we used data from the routine reporting system for malaria (mixture of patients with and without adequate prophylaxis), a database on travel patterns, and in-flight or visa data on Swedish travelers of 1997 to...

Prevention of malaria in travelers.

There are approximately 300 million cases of malaria each year, resulting in 1 million deaths worldwide. Family physicians often encounter patients preparing to travel to malaria-endemic regions. Physicians should have basic knowledge of parasite transmission and malaria prevention. The risk of malaria acquisition is based largely on geographic location and travel season. Most cases occur in su...

Mixed-species malaria infections in travelers.

Long-term malaria prophylaxis for travelers.

Long-term malaria prophylaxis is hampered by a lack of standardization and compliance. Advice should be individually optimized to achieve a high degree of protection and compliance. Individual risk assessment takes into consideration the duration of stay in the endemic area, the individual exposure, the seasonal transmission rates, and the drug-resistance situation.Methods for prevention of exp...

Primaquine for prevention of malaria in travelers.

An expanding risk and range of endemic malaria threatens travelers. Primaquine is an old drug recently demonstrated to offer effective prophylaxis. Clinical trials conducted in Indonesia, Kenya, and Colombia showed that a primaquine base (30 mg per day) had protective efficacy against Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax of 85%-93%. Among 339 children (age, >8 years) and adults taking thi...