Epidemiology of imported malaria among children and young adults in Barcelona (1990-2008)

Malaria Journal

Research

Mireia Garcia-Villarrubia¹  Patricia Garcia de Olalla¹  Joan A Cayl๠ Juan-Pablo Millet²  Joaquim Gascón³  José Muñoz³  Victoria Fumadó⁴  Juan Cabezos⁵  Jordi Gómez i Prat⁵  Francesc Zarzuela⁵  María-Jesús Pinazo⁵  Begoña Treviño⁵ 

[1] Epidemiology Service, Public Health Agency of Barcelona, Pza Lesseps, 1, 08023, Barcelona, Spain;Epidemiology Service, Public Health Agency of Barcelona, Pza Lesseps, 1, 08023, Barcelona, Spain;CIBER de Epidemiología y Salud Publica (CIBERESP), Spain;Hospital Clínic, Barcelona Centre for International Health Research (CRESIB), Hospital Clínic/IDIBAPS, Barcelona, Spain. Villarroel 170, 08036, Barcelona, Spain;Sant Joan de Deu Paediatrics Hospital, Passeig Sant Joan de Déu, 2. 08950 Esplugues de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain;Tropical Medicine and International Health Unit, Primary Health Care Drassanes Center, Avda Drassanes 17-21, 08001, Barcelona, Spain;

关键词: Malaria;    Plasmodium Falciparum;    Malaria Case;    Endemic Region;    Malaria Incidence;   

DOI  :  10.1186/1475-2875-10-347

 received in 2011-05-19, accepted in 2011-11-25,  发布年份 2011

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundIncreasing international travel and migration is producing changes in trends in infectious diseases, especially in children from many European cities. The objective of this study was to describe the epidemiology and determine the trends of imported malaria in patients under 20 years old in the city of Barcelona, Spain, during an 18-year period.MethodsThe study included malaria cases that were laboratory confirmed and reported to the malaria register at the Public Health Agency of Barcelona from 1990 to 2008, residing in Barcelona and less than 20 years old. Patients were classified as natives (born in Spain) or immigrants. Differences in the distribution of demographic, clinical characteristics, and incidence per 100,000 person-year evolution were analysed. Natives and immigrants were compared by logistic regression by calculating the odds ratio (OR) with a 95% confidence interval (CI) and Chi-square for a linear trend (p < 0.05).ResultsOf the total 174 cases, 143 (82.1%) were immigrants, 100 (57.5%) were female, 121 (69.5%) Plasmodium falciparum, and 108 (62.1%) were visiting friends and relatives (VFR) as the reason for travel. Among the immigrants, 99 (67.8%) were from Equatorial Guinea. Immigrant cases more frequently travelled to Africa than natives (p = 0.02). The factors associated with imported malaria among immigrant residents was travelling for VFR (OR: 6.2 CI 1.9-20.2) and age 15-19 (OR: 3.7 CI 1-13.3). The incidence increased from 1990 to 1999 (p < 0.001) and decreased from 2000 to 2008 (p = 0.01), although the global linear trend was not statistically significant (p = 0.41). The fatality rate was 0.5%.ConclusionsThe majority of cases of malaria in population less than 20 years in Barcelona were immigrants, travelling to Africa for VFR and Plasmodium falciparum was most frequently detected. The trend analysis of the entire study period did not show a statistically significant decline. It is recommended to be aware of malaria, especially among children of immigrants who travel to their parent's home country for VFR. Better access to pre travel advice should be provided.

【 授权许可】

Unknown   
© Garcia-Villarrubia et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2011. This article is published under license to BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.