Evaluation of Imported Malaria Cases in Northern Cyprus between 2016 and 2019: First Data Series
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Original Investigation
P: 126-131
September 2020

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

Turkiye Parazitol Derg 2020;44(3):126-131
1. Yakın Doğu Üniversitesi Tıp Fakültesi, Tıbbi Mikrobiyoloji ve Klinik Mikrobiyoloji Anabilim Dalı, Lefkoşa, KKTC
2. Manisa Celal Bayar Üniversitesi Tıp Fakültesi, Parazitoloji Anabilim Dalı, Manisa, Türkiye
3. Yakın Doğu Üniversitesi, DESAM Enstitüsü, Lefkoşa, KKTC
4. Manisa Celal Bayar Üniversitesi Tıp Fakültesi, Tıbbi Mikrobiyoloji Anabilim Dalı, Manisa, Türkiye
5. Yakın Doğu Üniversitesi Hastanesi, Enfeksiyon Hastalıkları ve Mikrobiyoloji Kliniği, Lefkoşa, KKTC
No information available.
No information available
Received Date: 04.02.2020
Accepted Date: 19.06.2020
Publish Date: 04.09.2020
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ABSTRACT

Conclusion:

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.

Results:

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). Plasmodium falciparum, Plasmodium vivax, and Plasmodium ovale 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%).

Methods:

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.

Objective:

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.

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