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. 2003 Jul 22:2:22.
doi: 10.1186/1475-2875-2-22. Epub 2003 Jul 22.

Sri Lanka malaria maps

Olivier J T Briët  1 , Dissanayake M Gunawardena, Wim van der Hoek, Felix P Amerasinghe
Affiliations

Sri Lanka malaria maps

Olivier J T Briët et al. Malar J. .

Abstract

Background: Despite a relatively good national case reporting system in Sri Lanka, detailed maps of malaria distribution have not been publicly available.

Methods: In this study, monthly records over the period 1995 - 2000 of microscopically confirmed malaria parasite positive blood film readings, at sub-district spatial resolution, were used to produce maps of malaria distribution across the island. Also, annual malaria trends at district resolution were displayed for the period 1995 - 2002.

Results: The maps show that Plasmodium vivax malaria incidence has a marked variation in distribution over the island. The incidence of Plasmodium falciparum malaria follows a similar spatial pattern but is generally much lower than that of P. vivax. In the north, malaria shows one seasonal peak in the beginning of the year, whereas towards the south a second peak around June is more pronounced.

Conclusion: This paper provides the first publicly available maps of both P. vivax and P. falciparum malaria incidence distribution on the island of Sri Lanka at sub-district resolution, which may be useful to health professionals, travellers and travel medicine professionals in their assessment of malaria risk in Sri Lanka. As incidence of malaria changes over time, regular updates of these maps are necessary.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Annual parasite incidence of Plasmodium vivax Map of the districts of Sri Lanka with annual parasite incidence (API) of P. vivax malaria cases at Medical Officer of Health (MOH) area resolution over the year 1998.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Annual parasite incidence of Plasmodium falciparum Map of the districts of Sri Lanka with annual parasite incidence (API) of P. falciparum malaria and mixed infections of both P. vivax and P. falciparum at Medical Officer of Health (MOH) area resolution over the year 1998.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Trends of Annual parasite incidence Trends of annual parasite incidence of P. falciparum (red bars) and P. vivax (blue bars) malaria over the years 1995 (bar on far left) to 2002 (bar on far right), at district resolution. The height of the bars in the legend represents an annual parasite incidence of 10 cases per 1000 persons.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Geometric mean monthly parasite incidence patterns Geometric mean monthly parasite incidence patterns of P. falciparum (red bars) and P. vivax (blue bars) malaria from January (bar on far left) to December (bar on far right), relative to the month with the highest geometric mean incidence, over the period January 1995 to December 2000, at district resolution. The height of the bars in the legend represents 100 percent (The month with the highest geometric mean incidence for the respective malaria species).
Figure 5
Figure 5
Foreign guest nights in tourist hotels Monthly foreign guest nights spent in tourist hotels in 2001 in malarious areas with an annual parasite incidence > 1 case/1000 population (red lines and dots) and non malarious areas (blue lines and squares). Source: Ceylon Tourist Board: Annual Statistical Report; 2001 [18].
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References

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