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
. 2019 Jan;24(5):1800139.
doi: 10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2019.24.5.1800139.

Malaria in Eritrean migrants newly arrived in seven European countries, 2011 to 2016

Klara Sondén  1   2 , Thierry Rolling  3   4 , Andreas Wångdahl  1   5 , Elsie Ydring  6 , Sabine Vygen-Bonnet  7 , Robert Kobbe  8 , Johan Douhan  1 , Ulf Hammar  9 , Janneke Duijster  10 , Brechje de Gier  10 , Joanne Freedman  11 , Nicole Gysin  12 , Klaus Stark  7 , Flora Stevens  11 , Lasse Skafte Vestergaard  13 , Anders Tegnell  6 , Anna Färnert  1   2
Affiliations

Malaria in Eritrean migrants newly arrived in seven European countries, 2011 to 2016

Klara Sondén et al. Euro Surveill. 2019 Jan.

Abstract

Global migration has resulted in a large number of asylum applications in Europe. In 2014, clusters of Plasmodium vivax cases were reported among newly arrived Eritreans. This study aimed to assess malaria among Eritrean migrants in Europe from 2011 to 2016. We reviewed European migration numbers and malaria surveillance data for seven countries (Denmark, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom) which received 44,050 (94.3%) of 46,730 Eritreans seeking asylum in Europe in 2014. The overall number of malaria cases, predominantly P. vivax, increased significantly in 2014 compared to previous years, with the largest increases in Germany (44 P. vivax cases in 2013 vs 294 in 2014, p < 0.001) and Sweden (18 in 2013 vs 205 in 2014, p < 0.001). Overall, malaria incidence in Eritreans increased from 1-5 to 25 cases per 1,000, and was highest in male teenagers (50 cases/1,000). In conclusion, an exceptional increase of malaria cases occurred in Europe in 2014 and 2015, due to rising numbers of Eritreans with high incidence of P. vivax arriving in Europe. Our results demonstrate potential for rapid changes in imported malaria patterns, highlighting the need for improved awareness, surveillance efforts and timely healthcare in migrants.

Keywords: malaria; migrants; outbreak; plasmodium vivax; relapse; travellers.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Incidence of malaria cases per 1,000 Eritrean asylum applicants in different age groups, Germany and Sweden, 2013–2015
Figure 2
Figure 2
Weekly number of Eritreans seeking asylum and Plasmodium vivax cases reported in Sweden, 2011–2016
Figure 3
Figure 3
Number of (A) malaria, (B) Plasmodium vivax and (C) Plasmodium falciparum cases diagnosed in Sweden by reported possible country of infection, 2005–2016
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment in

References

    1. European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). Risk of importation and spread of malaria and other vector-borne diseases associated with the arrival of migrants to the EU. Stockholm: ECDC; 2015. Available from: https://ecdc.europa.eu/sites/portal/files/media/en/publications/Publicat...
    1. Broderick C, Nadjm B, Smith V, Blaze M, Checkley A, Chiodini PL, et al. Clinical, geographical, and temporal risk factors associated with presentation and outcome of vivax malaria imported into the United Kingdom over 27 years: observational study. BMJ. 2015;350(apr16 13):h1703. 10.1136/bmj.h1703 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Gautret P, Cramer JP, Field V, Caumes E, Jensenius M, Gkrania-Klotsas E, et al. Infectious diseases among travellers and migrants in Europe, EuroTravNet 2010. Euro Surveill. 2012;17(26):20205. - PubMed
    1. Sonden K, Castro E, Törnnberg L, Stenstrom C, Tegnell A, Farnert A. High incidence of Plasmodium vivax malaria in newly arrived Eritrean refugees in Sweden since May 2014. Euro Surveill. 2014;19(35):20890. - PubMed
    1. Roggelin L, Tappe D, Noack B, Addo MM, Tannich E, Rothe C. Sharp increase of imported Plasmodium vivax malaria seen in migrants from Eritrea in Hamburg, Germany. Malar J. 2016;15(1):325. 10.1186/s12936-016-1366-7 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources