Evaluation of Imported Malaria Cases in Northern Cyprus between 2016 and 2019: First Data Series

• Published in: Türkiye parazitolojii dergisi Vol. 44; no. 3; pp. 126 - 131
• Main Authors: Güler, Emrah, Özbilgin, Ahmet, Çavuş, İbrahim, Şanlıdağ, Tamer, Süer, Kaya
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Turkey Galenos Publishing House 04.09.2020; Galenos Yayinevi
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Africa; Autumn; Cyprus - epidemiology; Eradication; Female; Fever; Gender; Genotyping; Humans; imported; Infections; Infectious diseases; Malaria; Malaria - epidemiology; Malaria - etiology; Malaria - prevention & control; Male; plasmodium; Plasmodium falciparum; Plasmodium falciparum - isolation & purification; Plasmodium ovale - isolation & purification; Plasmodium vivax - isolation & purification; Polymerase chain reaction; Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; Risk Factors; Seasons; Thrombocytopenia; Travel; turkish republic of northern cyprus; Young Adult; Cyprus; Africa; Republic of Northern Cyprus; Plasmodium; Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus; malaria; imported
• ISSN: 1300-6320; 2146-3077; 2146-3077
• DOI: 10.4274/tpd.galenos.2020.6834

In present times, malaria remains an infectious disease with a high mortality rate in some regions of the world. It is predicted to preserve its importance as a disease in the future because of the traveling human populations from malaria-endemic African countries into the regions where malaria has been eradicated. The objective of this study is to evaluate the increasing imported malaria cases in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. In this study, we investigated 13 patients who were diagnosed with malaria between 2016 and 2019. We clinically evaluated all the cases. More importantly, we made the diagnosis of these patients by Giemsa-stained thin and thick blood smears, rapid malaria antigen tests, and genotyping (only for five patients) by real-time polymerase chain reaction. Additionally, we evaluated patients with malaria in terms of age, gender, and seasons. In the diagnosed malaria cases, 11 (84.4%) of them were male and 2 (15.6%) were female. There was no significance between malaria infection and gender (p=0.358). , and infection were detected in ten patients (76.9%), two (15.4%) patients, and one (7.7%) patient, respectively. There was a significant increase (p=0.003) in the malaria cases in 2019 (n=9). The seasonal comparison revealed that malaria infections are most common in autumn (8/13, 61.5%). Despite the eradication of malaria in Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, the rising number of recently imported cases increases the risk of emerging local cases. Malaria infection should be immediately suspected, particularly, in foreign patients who travel from the malaria-endemic region and present with symptoms such as fever and shivering if the laboratory findings especially detect thrombocytopenia.