Travel history and malaria infection risk in a low-transmission setting in Ethiopia: a case control study

Malaria Journal

Research

Yemane Berhane¹  Honelgn Nauhassenay¹  Joshua O Yukich²  Thomas P Eisele²  Joseph Keating²  Cameron Taylor³  Richard Reithinger⁴ 

[1] Addis Continental Institute of Public Health, Kirikos sub-City, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia;Department of Global Health Systems and Development, Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, 1440 Canal St, New Orleans, LA, USA;ICF International, Beltsville Drive, Calverton, MD, USA;United States Agency for International Development, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia;RTI International, Washington, DC, USA;

关键词: Malaria;    Travel;    Human movement;    Importation;    Plasmodium vivax;    Plasmodium falciparum;    Ethiopia;    Reservoir infection;   

DOI  :  10.1186/1475-2875-12-33

 received in 2012-10-10, accepted in 2013-01-14,  发布年份 2013

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundMalaria remains the leading communicable disease in Ethiopia, with around one million clinical cases of malaria reported annually. The country currently has plans for elimination for specific geographic areas of the country. Human movement may lead to the maintenance of reservoirs of infection, complicating attempts to eliminate malaria.MethodsAn unmatched case–control study was conducted with 560 adult patients at a Health Centre in central Ethiopia. Patients who received a malaria test were interviewed regarding their recent travel histories. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were conducted to determine if reported travel outside of the home village within the last month was related to malaria infection status.ResultsAfter adjusting for several known confounding factors, travel away from the home village in the last 30 days was a statistically significant risk factor for infection with Plasmodium falciparum (AOR 1.76; p=0.03) but not for infection with Plasmodium vivax (AOR 1.17; p=0.62). Male sex was strongly associated with any malaria infection (AOR 2.00; p=0.001).ConclusionsGiven the importance of identifying reservoir infections, consideration of human movement patterns should factor into decisions regarding elimination and disease prevention, especially when targeted areas are limited to regions within a country.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© Yukich et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2013