The Southern Medical Journal (SMJ) is the official, peer-reviewed journal of the Southern Medical Association. It has a multidisciplinary and inter-professional focus that covers a broad range of topics relevant to physicians and other healthcare specialists.

SMJ // Article

Editorial

The Threat of Malaria for US Travelers

Authors: Dawd S. Siraj, MD, MPH & TM

Abstract

Although malaria has been eradicated from most industrialized and Western countries, a number of travelers to tropical countries where the disease remains a major cause of morbidity and death present with the disease upon their return. Imported cases of malaria number about 25,000 annually, although only about 10,000 are reported, and of those, approximately 150 are fatal.1 As per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2003 annual surveillance report, there were 1,278 cases of malaria reported in the United States, of which seven were fatal.2 These numbers are growing because of increased international travel, migration, collapse of malaria control efforts in parts of the world creating new endemic areas, as well as the spread of drug-resistant strains of malaria.

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References

1. Wellems TE, Miller LH. Two Worlds of Malaria. N Engl J Med 2003;349:1496–1498.
 
2. Eliades MJ, Shah S, Nguyen-Dinh P, et al. Malaria Surveillance—United States 2003. MMWR Surveill Summ 2003;54:25–40.
 
3. World Tourism Organization. Historical perspective of world tourism. International tourist arrivals, 1950–2003. Available at: http://www.world-tourism.org/facts/wtb.html. Accessed November 10, 2005.
 
4. Schwartz E, Parise M, Kozarsky P, et al. Delayed Onset of Malaria- Implications for Chemoprophylaxis in Travelers. N Engl J Med 2003;349:1510–1516.
 
5. Baird JK. Effectiveness of Antimalarial Drugs. N Engl J Med 2005;352:1565–1577.