Follow-Up and Monitoring of Malaria Treated Cases Toward Malaria Elimination Program in Bashagard District, Hormozgan Province, Iran, in 2016

Abstract

Background: Malaria elimination program has been launched in Iran with the technical support of theWorld Health Organization since 2009. To achieve the goal of malaria eradication, not only all positive cases should be diagnosed and treated promptly but also treated patients might be considered asymptomatic reservoirs in the establishment of the malaria transmission cycle. Objectives: The present study aimed to follow up and monitor malaria-treated cases using sensitive molecular tools, as well as microscopic and rapid diagnostic test (RDT) techniques, in Bashagard district, Hormozgan province, Iran. Methods: This cross-sectional survey was conducted in Bashagard district of Hormozgan province for 12 months from 2015 to 2016. A total number of 208 malaria cases treated according to the national malaria treatment guideline (I.R. Iran, 3rd edition) were randomly selected from databases to be evaluated for Plasmodium infection using microscopic, RDT, and nested-PCR (using 18ssrRNA) techniques. Results: Of the total number of 208 participants in the study, 39.9% were male and 61.1% were male. None of the participants had symptoms of malaria before sampling. Based on the results of microscopic methods, RDT, and molecular analysis for the detection of malaria parasites, no positive malaria treated cases were found. Conclusions: The results of the studyshowedthat a robust malaria surveillance system including screening, diagnosis, timely treatment, and follow-up of treated cases plays an important role in the malaria elimination program to be implemented successfully