Malaria mortality in Venezuela: focus on deaths due to Plasmodium vivax in children

Abstract

Morbidity and mortality burden of malaria in the childhood represents a public health threat not only in countries with high levels of transmission, but also in those, such as Venezuela and others in Latin America, with moderate to low transmission. Usually its mortality has been attributed just to Plasmodium falciparum malaria, but the changing patterns of increase in Plasmodium vivax malaria morbidity and mortality are now causing concern. We studied malaria mortality by analyzing different epidemiological variables during a 10-year period in Venezuela, finding mortality rates ranging 0.10-0.36 deaths/100,000 population, with almost a third of deaths in children (<10 years old), corresponding 270 deaths to P. falciparum cases and 30 to P. vivax; but along the period with a decrease trend for P. falciparum and an increase trend for P. vivax.