Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2005 Jan;99(1):71-4.
doi: 10.1016/j.trstmh.2004.04.001.

Travel as a risk factor for uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum malaria in the highlands of western Kenya

G D Shanks  1 , K Biomndo, H L Guyatt, R W Snow
Affiliations

Travel as a risk factor for uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum malaria in the highlands of western Kenya

G D Shanks et al. Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg. 2005 Jan.

Abstract

In the 1980s, highland malaria returned to the tea estates of western Kenya after an absence of nearly a generation. In order to determine the importance of travel for the spread of malaria in this region, we prospectively collected blood films and travel, demographic and geographic information on well persons and outpatients on tea estates near the western rim of the Rift Valley. Risk factors for malaria asexual parasitaemia included: tribal/ethnic group, home province and home district malaria endemicity. Travel away from the Kericho tea estates within the previous two months showed an odds ratio (OR) for parasitaemia of 1.59 for well persons and 2.38 for outpatients. Sexual stages of malaria parasites (gametocytes) had an OR of 3.14 (well persons) and 2.22 (outpatients) for those who had travelled. Increased risk of malaria parasitaemia with travel was concentrated in children aged <5 years. An increase in population gametocytaemia is possibly due to increased chloroquine resistance and suppressed infections contracted outside of the tea estates.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. East African Network for Monitoring Antimalarial Treatment The efficacy of antimalarial monotherapies, sulphadoxine–pyrimethamine and amodiaquine in East Africa: implications for sub-regional policy. Trop. Med. Int. Health. 2003;8:860–867. - PubMed
    1. Garnham PCC. Malaria epidemics at exceptionally high altitudes in Kenya. Br. Med. J. 1945;2:45–47. - PMC - PubMed
    1. International Artemisinin Study Group Artesunate combinations for treatment of malaria: meta-analysis. Lancet. 2004;363:9–17. - PubMed
    1. Malakooti MA, Biomndo K, Shanks GD. Re-emergence of epidemic malaria in the highlands of western Kenya. Emerg. Infect. Dis. 1998;4:671–676. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Matson AT. The history of malaria in Nandi. East Afr. Med. J. 1957;34:431–441. - PubMed

Publication types