Importance of Proactive Malaria Case Surveillance and Management in Malaysia
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-2018
Abstract
Although Plasmodium vivax infections in Malaysia are usually imported, a significant autochthonous outbreak of vivax malaria was detected in a remote indigenous (Orang Asli) settlement located in northern peninsular Malaysia. Between November 2016 and April 2017, 164 cases of P. vivax infection were detected. Although 83.5% of the vivax cases were identified through passive case detection and contact screening during the first 7 weeks, subsequent mass blood screening (combination of rapid diagnostic tests, blood films, and polymerase chain reaction [PCR]) of the entire settlement (N = 3,757) revealed another 27 P. vivax infections, 19 of which were asymptomatic. The mapped data from this active case detection program was used to direct control efforts resulting in the successful control of the outbreak in this region. This report highlights the importance of proactive case surveillance and timely management of malaria control in Malaysia as it nears malaria elimination.
Keywords
adolescent, adult, Article, asymptomatic infection, blood examination, case finding, child, contact examination, female, human, major clinical study, Malaysia, male, mass screening, Orang Asli, Plasmodium vivax malaria, polymerase chain reaction, preschool child, school child
Divisions
fac_med
Funders
University of Malaya Research Fund Assistance (Grant no. BK005-2017),Fogarty International Center and the Office of AIDS Research at the National Institutes of Health under the Global Health Equity Scholars Consortium at Yale University (D43TW010540)
Publication Title
The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
Volume
98
Issue
6
Publisher
American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene