Analysis of overseas imported malaria and implication for prevention and control strategy in Shijiazhuang City from 2012 to 2015

Abstract

Objective To analyze the overseas imported malaria situation of Shijiazhuang City from 2012 to 2015, so as to provide the evidence for exploring the prevention and control strategy. Methods The data of overseas imported malaria were collected and analyzed with the descriptive method including Plasmodium species, population characteristics, epidemic focus distribution, onset time, diagnosis and treatment in Shijiazhuang City from 2012 to 2015, and the time from the onset to first medical visit, time from first medical visit to being diagnosed, and time from onset to being diagnosed of different Plasmodium species were analyzed respectively with the statistical analysis method. Results A total of 92 overseas imported malaria cases were reported in Shijiazhuang City from 2012 to 2015, including 88 cases from African countries (falciparum malaria taking 53.41%), and 4 cases from Southeast Asian and other countries (vivax malaria taking 50%). Eighty-nine cases were distributed in 28 counties (districts) of 6 cities in Hebei Province, except 2 persons with foreign nationalities and 1 with Anhui Province census register. The male and young adults were dominant. The median time from the onset to seeing a doctor was one day and the median time from seeing a doctor to being diagnosed was five days. Most cases were reported by the Fifth Hospital of Shijiazhuang which was the sentinel hospital. Totally 42.39% of the cases were misdiagnosed when the first visit to a doctor. All of the cases were laboratory confirmed and 100% of them received the standard treatment after diagnosis. Conclusions The overseas imported malaria cases are increasing rapidly with years and the malignant malaria cases were more than other malaria cases in Shijiazhuang City. It is necessary to further strengthen the long-term cooperation mechanism between the medical institutions and the entry-exit inspection and quarantine department. The technician training should be strengthened to avoid the severe cases and death cases.