Malaria and the Campaigns Toward its Eradication in Romania, 1923–1963

Abstract

Malaria was common in Romania until largely successful campaigns of the 20th century. Researchers Ioan Cantacuzino, George Zotta, and Mihai Ciuca carried out important early contributions to the understanding of malarial endemo-epidemic situation in Romania. The malarial endemy registered a peak in 1942 with an incidence of 1218 cases per 100,000 inhabitants as a result of the disastrous effects of the Second World War. In the following years the incidence increased from 421.5 cases per 100,000 inhabitants in 1944 to 735.1 cases per 100,000 inhabitants in 1946. A Malaria Commission was formed in February 1947 with the mission to reorganize the fight against malaria in Romania based on international guidelines. Following the adoption of proper malarial eradication methods, namely coverage of endemic areas by spraying of residual insecticides, associated with chemotherapy and, eventually, chemoprophylaxis with synthetic products, and by surveillance, indigenous cases disappeared rapidly, relapsing cases were much reduced, and imported and induced cases remained constant or even increased slightly, probably due to the increase in traffic and in the use of blood transfusions. No indigenous cases have been registered in Romania since 1962. In 1963 the Romanian authorities declared malarial eradication in the territory to the World Health Organization.