ABSTRACT

Malaria is still a serious public health problem around the world and in our country. In this study, we examined the epidemiology of malaria cases retrorespectively by using the surveillance data provided by the Malaria Control Unit of the Infectious Disease Division of Kocaeli Health Directory, from the years of 2008 to 2013. Our aim was to compare our findings with the findings of the past studies and provide support to the future surveillance studies.

A total of 10008 periferic blood samples were examined in this surveillance based study. The cases were evaluated according to age groups, gender, month during which the infection was detected and the origin of district.

The species of malaria parasites were detected in 27 samples of which 51.9 % (n=14) was Plasmodium vivax and 48.1% (n=13) was Plasmodium falciparum. Among 27 cases 77.8% (n=21) of the cases were male and 22.2% (n=6) were female. 96.3% of the cases were above the age of 15. All cases of Plasmodium vivax were consisted of the workers who came to Kocaeli from Southeastern Anatolia Region.

Malaria cases detected in our region have displayed a relatively meaningful decrease in comparison to past. While Plasmodium vivax was dominating infecting agent in the past, in recent years Plasmodium falciparum appeared to be infecting nearly half of the cases. These cases were imported cases coming to Kocaeli from other countries. It is important to take the necessary precautions for timely diagnosis of imported cases and to prevent its spread in the area. (Turkiye Parazitol Derg 2015; 39: 1-4)

Keywords: Kocaeli, malaria, epidemiology