The Investigation of Malaria Cases in a Central Laboratory in İstanbul Region for a Period of Fifteen Years

Abstract

The aim of this study is to examine the cases with malaria identified in the last 15 years in a central laboratory in Istanbul and assess their clinical features in general. A retrospective examination of the laboratory records of all malaria-suspected patients whose thin and thick smears of blood samples were examined between 2002 and 2017 was conducted. Cases diagnosed as having malaria were evaluated in terms of their personal features such as age and gender, complaints and findings at the time of diagnosis, clinical features and recent travel history to an endemic region. Blood smears of 2271 patients were examined and Plasmodium spp. were detected in a total of 42 cases during the abovementioned period. Among these 42 cases, Plasmodium falciparum was detected in 19, Plasmodium ovale in 1 and Plasmodium vivax in 22 cases. It was noted that 32 of 42 cases were diagnosed in the last five years, and were infected during journey to Africa. July was found to be the month with highest number of cases. Almost all cases with malaria were imported cases due to P. vivax or P. falciparum, as expected. It is remarkable that, the demand for blood smear examinations due to the suspicion of malaria by physicians has increased and the number of cases with malaria detected in the laboratory has increased too, in recent years.