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. 2016 Jun;54(3):261-4.
doi: 10.3347/kjp.2016.54.3.261. Epub 2016 Jun 30.

Imported Malaria over Fifteen Years in an Inner City Teaching Hospital of Washington DC

Sri Lakshmi Hyndavi Yeruva  1 , Archana Sinha  1 , Mariam Sarraf-Yazdy  1 , Jhansi Gajjala  2
Affiliations

Imported Malaria over Fifteen Years in an Inner City Teaching Hospital of Washington DC

Sri Lakshmi Hyndavi Yeruva et al. Korean J Parasitol. 2016 Jun.

Abstract

As endemic malaria is not commonly seen in the United States, most of the cases diagnosed and reported are associated with travel to and from the endemic places of malaria. As the number of imported cases of malaria has been increasing since 1973, it is important to look into these cases to study the morbidity and mortality associated with this disease in the United States. In this study, we would like to share our experience in diagnosing and treating these patients at our institution. We did a retrospective chart review of 37 cases with a documented history of imported malaria from 1998 to 2012. Among them, 16 patients had complicated malaria during that study period, with a mean length of hospital stay of 3.5 days. Most common place of travel was Africa, and chemoprophylaxis was taken by only 11% of patients. Travel history plays a critical role in suspecting the diagnosis and in initiating prompt treatment.

Keywords: Plasmodium falciparum; Plasmodium vivax; Washington DC; imported malaria; teaching hospital.

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Conflict of interest statement

We have no conflict of interest related to this work.

Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
Histogram showing the age distribution of malaria patients.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 2.
Number of malaria patients by month from 1998 to 2012.
Fig. 3.
Fig. 3.
Distribution of visiting places based on travel history.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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