Journal article
Is there a risk of suburban transmission of malaria in Selangor, Malaysia?
PLoS ONE, Vol.8(10), Art. e77924
2013
Abstract
Background
The suburban transmission of malaria in Selangor, Malaysia’s most developed and populous state still remains a concern for public health in this region. Despite much successful control efforts directed at its reduction, sporadic cases, mostly brought in by foreigners have continued to occur. In addition, cases of simian malaria caused by Plasmodium knowlesi, some with fatal outcome have caused grave concern to health workers. The aim of this study was to investigate the possibility of local malaria transmission in suburban regions of Selangor, which are adjacent to secondary rainforests.
Findings
A malaria survey spanning 7 years (2006 - 2012) was conducted in Selangor. A total of 1623 laboratory confirmed malaria cases were reported from Selangor’s nine districts. While 72.6% of these cases (1178/1623) were attributed to imported malaria (cases originating from other countries), 25.5% (414/1623) were local cases and 1.9% (31/1623) were considered as relapse and unclassified cases combined. In this study, the most prevalent infection was P. vivax (1239 cases, prevalence 76.3%) followed by P. falciparum (211, 13.0%), P. knowlesi (75, 4.6%), P. malariae (71, 4.4%) and P. ovale (1, 0.06%). Mixed infections comprising of P. vivax and P. falciparum were confirmed (26, 1.6%). Entomological surveys targeting the residences of malaria patients’ showed that the most commonly trapped Anopheles species was An. maculatus. No oocysts or sporozoites were found in the An. maculatus collected. Nevertheless, the possibility of An. maculatus being the malaria vector in the investigated locations was high due to its persistent occurrence in these areas.
Conclusions
Malaria cases reported in this study were mostly imported cases. However the co-existence of local cases and potential Plasmodium spp. vectors should be cause for concern. The results of this survey reflect the need of maintaining closely monitored malaria control programs and continuous extensive malaria surveillance in Peninsula Malaysia.
Details
- Title
- Is there a risk of suburban transmission of malaria in Selangor, Malaysia?
- Authors/Creators
- B. Russell (Author/Creator)K.A. Braima (Author/Creator) - University of MalayaJ-S Sum (Author/Creator) - University of MalayaA-R.M. Ghazali (Author/Creator) - University of MalayaM. Muslimin (Author/Creator) - University of MalayaJ. Jeffery (Author/Creator) - University of MalayaW-C Lee (Author/Creator) - University of MalayaM.R. Shaker (Author/Creator) - University of MalayaA-E.M. Elamin (Author/Creator) - University of MalayaI. Jamaiah (Author/Creator) - University of MalayaY-L Lau (Author/Creator) - University of MalayaM. Rohela (Author/Creator) - University of MalayaA. Kamarulzaman (Author/Creator) - University of MalayaF. Sitam (Author/Creator) - Department of Wildlife and National ParksR. Mohd-Noh (Author/Creator) - Universiti Teknologi MARAN.M. Abdul-Aziz (Author/Creator) - University of Malaya
- Publication Details
- PLoS ONE, Vol.8(10), Art. e77924
- Publisher
- Public Library of Science
- Identifiers
- 991005542359107891
- Copyright
- © 2013 Braima et al.
- Murdoch Affiliation
- Murdoch University
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article
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- Citation topics
- 1 Clinical & Life Sciences
- 1.217 Parasitology - Malaria, Toxoplasmosis & Coccidiosis
- 1.217.59 Malaria
- Web Of Science research areas
- Infectious Diseases
- ESI research areas
- Clinical Medicine