[Chronic morbidity after travel in endemic malaria regions]

Abstract

Contracting malaria, especially Plasmodium falciparum infection, remains one of the main risks when non-immunes travel to the tropics. This contribution tries to describe qualitatively, and, wherever possible, quantitatively, the risk to suffer death or permanent incapacitation due to prophylaxis, disease or therapy of malaria. Roughly three million Germans annually go for a three to four weeks' trip to malaria-endemic areas. Around 700 to 1000 of them fall ill with malaria, two thirds infected with Pl. falciparum. Grossly 2% of patients expire. Lasting physical damage due to malaria (neurological sequelae after cerebral malaria, splenic rupture, impaired vision) due to therapy (cardiac side effects of chloroquine, quinine and mefloquine, acute psychoses) or due to prophylaxis (retinopathy after long-term chloroquine) are uncommon and hard to quantify. On the whole, however, well-tailored, correctly dosed prophylaxis, early diagnosis and circumspect therapy lower the risk of suffering grave health impairment due to malaria.