A new study finds that most malaria deaths among U.S. travelers between 1963 and 2001 were preventable. The study is published in the Oct. 5, 2004, issue of Annals of Internal Medicine, a peer-reviewed medical journal published in Philadelphia by the American College of Physicians.
Although indigenous transmission of malaria was eradicated from the United States in the late 1940s, every year about 1,500 malaria cases occur in the United States. Most infections occur in people who travel abroad, and one of every 100 U.S. travelers with diagnosed malaria die.
Researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reviewed records of U.S. travelers who died of malaria between 1963 and 2001. Of 123 deaths, most (105 people or 85.4 percent) were considered preventable.
For 83 of these, the patient's own actions may have contributed to death. The factors that contributed to death included not taking necessary preventive medicines; not following the prescribed regimen for the medications, or not seeking medical attention promptly (within two days) when symptoms occurred.
For 70 of the 105 deaths (66.7 percent), medical errors may have contributed to the deaths. Among these errors were clinicians not prescribing the correct preventive medicines; not diagnosing malaria when the patient first reported symptoms; not beginning treatment promptly after diagnosis, or not treating the patient with the appropriate antimalarial drug.
Robert D. Newman, MD, MPH, lead author of the CDC study says, "Health care providers need to know that the CDC has expanded resources available that provide critical up-to-date information regarding prevention and treatment of malaria."