Epidemiological and clinical features of imported malaria at the three main hospitals of the Friuli-Venezia Giulia Region, Italy

Abstract

Background: Imported malaria cases continue to occur in non-endemic regions among travellers returning from tropical and subtropical countries. At particular risk of acquiring malaria is the group of travellers identified as immigrants who return to their home country with the specific intent of visiting friends or relatives (VFRs) and who commonly believe they are immune to malaria and fail to seek pre-travel advice. Our aim was to review the current trends of imported malaria in the three main hospitals of the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region (FVG), North Eastern Italy, focusing in particular on patient characteristics and laboratory findings. Methods: In this retrospective study, we examined all malaria cases among patients admitted from January 2010 through December 2014 to the emergency department of the three main hospitals located in FVG. Results: During the 5-year study period from 2010 to 2014, there were a total of 140 patients with a diagnosis of suspected malaria and who received microscopic confirmation of malaria.

A Machine Learning Model for Evaluating Imported Disease Screening Strategies in Immigrant Populations

“…On the contrary, McLellan et al 9 performed the same type of screening in 253 HIV-positive patients but the prevalence of positive serology for Schistosoma and Strongyloides was 19.9 and 4.4%, respectively. Regarding malaria, previous studies 10 carried out in Italy found that only 15% of malaria appears in the immigrant population compared with more than 20% found in a similar Spanish study. 11 Recent recommendations on screening for Chagas in the immigrant population in Spain 12 find a prevalence mean of 6.08% but with a 95% CI between 3.24 and 9.7.…”

“…24 From this point of view, our results show important prevalence levels for the different diseases that were included in the screening, as has been previously described. [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11] Most of the current institutional recommendations have been based on the combination of the prevalence found in the immigrant population already settled in the recipient country and the prevalence in the countries of origin. These data depend mostly, on the one hand, on the national epidemiological records based in many cases on estimates made in the field or on descriptive studies published by different groups of authors from the receiving countries, in which there may be significant individual variability in the methodology, type of registry, or diagnostic protocols applied.…”

“…2 This is a group with a high prevalence of infectious diseases, constituting a real public health problem for recipient countries. [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12] To address this problem, several international organizations (European Center for Disease Prevention and Control; Migrant Health Assessment Sub-committee of Health Protection Surveillance Centre Scientific Advisory Committee. Infectious disease assessment for migrants 2015; The Committee to Advise on Tropical Medicine and Travel [CATMAT]) [13][14][15][16] have postulated the need for institutional screening programs that would contribute to early diagnosis and treatment of these pathologies.…”

“…Infectious disease assessment for migrants 2015; The Committee to Advise on Tropical Medicine and Travel [CATMAT]) [13][14][15][16] have postulated the need for institutional screening programs that would contribute to early diagnosis and treatment of these pathologies. However, these recommendations have been made from estimates of previous epidemiological studies or have been based on the prevalence of different diseases in the country of origin, [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13] which has often not been updated or showed contradictory results. Previous studies performed in countries of arrival showed variable prevalences of the different imported diseases.…”

Droplet Digital PCR for the Detection of Plasmodium falciparum DNA in Whole Blood and Serum: A Comparative Analysis with Other Molecular Methods

“…To accelerate progression towards malaria eradication, multiple interventions are needed, but an accurate and sensitive surveillance of malaria transmission is essential to guide them [4]. On the other hand, Europe and other non-endemic countries nowadays face renovated malaria challenges; the increased influx of refugees, migrant populations, and travelers from endemic areas can contribute to the build-up of an infectious parasite reservoir, and climate change might favor mosquitos' proliferation and parasite development, further facilitating malaria transmission [5][6][7][8][9][10]. A prompt and accurate diagnosis of malaria is part of effective disease management [4,11].…”