According to the Center for Disease Control, “In several instances over the past decade, malaria incidence in Canada as a whole, or in individual provinces, reached epidemic levels.”Why some were not immediately identified and why no comprehensive analysis has been published as part of government surveillance systems are questions that will be addressed. Failing to recognize these epidemics has limited the ability of public health officials to assess and intervene appropriately to control the illness and death associated with imported malaria in Canada.
This study evaluated and summarized data collected over the past 22 years by local, provincial, and federal malaria surveillance systems, from Canadian federal immigration and refugee data resources and from international tourist resources, to identify and explore the causes of malaria epidemics. In addition, geographic patterns and Plasmodium spp. profiles of malaria are examined. This analysis led us to conclude that changes are needed in both the surveillance reporting instruments and how these surveillance results are analyzed and used.
For full text see http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/EID/vol10no7/03-0826.htm
Tags: Health, Malaria
