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Malaria imposes a substantial disease burden in the US, according to researchers.
Their study indicates that malaria hospitalizations and deaths in the US are more common than generally appreciated, as a steady stream of travelers return home with the disease.
In fact, malaria hospitalizations and deaths exceeded hospitalizations and deaths from other travel-related illnesses and generated about half a billion dollars in healthcare costs over a 15-year period.
These findings were published in the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.
“It appears more and more Americans are traveling to areas where malaria is common, and many of them are not taking preventive measures, such as using antimalarial preventive medications and mosquito repellents, even though they are very effective at preventing infections,” said study author Diana Khuu, PhD, of the University of California, Los Angeles.
For this study, Dr Khuu and her colleagues looked for malaria patients in a database maintained by the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality that tracks hospital admissions nationwide.
The researchers found that, between 2000 and 2014, 22,029 people were admitted to US hospitals due to complications from malaria, 4823 patients were diagnosed with severe malaria, and 182 of these patients died.
Most of the deaths and severe disease were linked to infections with the Plasmodium falciparum parasite. However, in almost half of the malaria-related hospitalizations, there was no indication of parasite type.
The majority of malaria hospitalizations occurred in the eastern US in states along the Atlantic seaboard, and men accounted for 60% of the malaria-related hospital admissions.
Malaria hospitalizations were more common in the US than hospitalizations for many other travel-associated diseases. For example, between 2000 and 2014, dengue fever generated an average of 259 hospitalizations a year (compared with 1489 for malaria).
The average cost of treating a malaria patient was $25,789, and the total bill for treating malaria patients in the US from 2000 to 2014 was about $555 million.
The researchers estimated that, each year, there are about 2100 people in the US suffering from malaria, since about 69% require hospital treatment.
That case count would exceed the high end of the official estimate from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of 1500 to 2000 cases per year.
Dr Khuu attributed the difference to the fact that the CDC’s malaria count is based on reports submitted to the agency by hospitals or physicians, and hospital admission records that were used in the current study may capture additional cases that have not been reported to CDC.
While those admissions records did not include travel history, the researchers believe the malaria infections they documented most likely were acquired during travel to parts of Africa, Asia, and Latin America, where malaria is still common.
However, Dr Khuu noted that mosquitoes capable of carrying malaria are common in many parts of the US. So increases in the number of travelers coming home with the disease increases the risk of malaria re-establishing itself in the US. 
Malaria imposes a substantial disease burden in the US, according to researchers.
Their study indicates that malaria hospitalizations and deaths in the US are more common than generally appreciated, as a steady stream of travelers return home with the disease.
In fact, malaria hospitalizations and deaths exceeded hospitalizations and deaths from other travel-related illnesses and generated about half a billion dollars in healthcare costs over a 15-year period.
These findings were published in the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.
“It appears more and more Americans are traveling to areas where malaria is common, and many of them are not taking preventive measures, such as using antimalarial preventive medications and mosquito repellents, even though they are very effective at preventing infections,” said study author Diana Khuu, PhD, of the University of California, Los Angeles.
For this study, Dr Khuu and her colleagues looked for malaria patients in a database maintained by the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality that tracks hospital admissions nationwide.
The researchers found that, between 2000 and 2014, 22,029 people were admitted to US hospitals due to complications from malaria, 4823 patients were diagnosed with severe malaria, and 182 of these patients died.
Most of the deaths and severe disease were linked to infections with the Plasmodium falciparum parasite. However, in almost half of the malaria-related hospitalizations, there was no indication of parasite type.
The majority of malaria hospitalizations occurred in the eastern US in states along the Atlantic seaboard, and men accounted for 60% of the malaria-related hospital admissions.
Malaria hospitalizations were more common in the US than hospitalizations for many other travel-associated diseases. For example, between 2000 and 2014, dengue fever generated an average of 259 hospitalizations a year (compared with 1489 for malaria).
The average cost of treating a malaria patient was $25,789, and the total bill for treating malaria patients in the US from 2000 to 2014 was about $555 million.
The researchers estimated that, each year, there are about 2100 people in the US suffering from malaria, since about 69% require hospital treatment.
That case count would exceed the high end of the official estimate from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of 1500 to 2000 cases per year.
Dr Khuu attributed the difference to the fact that the CDC’s malaria count is based on reports submitted to the agency by hospitals or physicians, and hospital admission records that were used in the current study may capture additional cases that have not been reported to CDC.
While those admissions records did not include travel history, the researchers believe the malaria infections they documented most likely were acquired during travel to parts of Africa, Asia, and Latin America, where malaria is still common.
However, Dr Khuu noted that mosquitoes capable of carrying malaria are common in many parts of the US. So increases in the number of travelers coming home with the disease increases the risk of malaria re-establishing itself in the US.
Malaria imposes a substantial disease burden in the US, according to researchers.
Their study indicates that malaria hospitalizations and deaths in the US are more common than generally appreciated, as a steady stream of travelers return home with the disease.
In fact, malaria hospitalizations and deaths exceeded hospitalizations and deaths from other travel-related illnesses and generated about half a billion dollars in healthcare costs over a 15-year period.
These findings were published in the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.
“It appears more and more Americans are traveling to areas where malaria is common, and many of them are not taking preventive measures, such as using antimalarial preventive medications and mosquito repellents, even though they are very effective at preventing infections,” said study author Diana Khuu, PhD, of the University of California, Los Angeles.
For this study, Dr Khuu and her colleagues looked for malaria patients in a database maintained by the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality that tracks hospital admissions nationwide.
The researchers found that, between 2000 and 2014, 22,029 people were admitted to US hospitals due to complications from malaria, 4823 patients were diagnosed with severe malaria, and 182 of these patients died.
Most of the deaths and severe disease were linked to infections with the Plasmodium falciparum parasite. However, in almost half of the malaria-related hospitalizations, there was no indication of parasite type.
The majority of malaria hospitalizations occurred in the eastern US in states along the Atlantic seaboard, and men accounted for 60% of the malaria-related hospital admissions.
Malaria hospitalizations were more common in the US than hospitalizations for many other travel-associated diseases. For example, between 2000 and 2014, dengue fever generated an average of 259 hospitalizations a year (compared with 1489 for malaria).
The average cost of treating a malaria patient was $25,789, and the total bill for treating malaria patients in the US from 2000 to 2014 was about $555 million.
The researchers estimated that, each year, there are about 2100 people in the US suffering from malaria, since about 69% require hospital treatment.
That case count would exceed the high end of the official estimate from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of 1500 to 2000 cases per year.
Dr Khuu attributed the difference to the fact that the CDC’s malaria count is based on reports submitted to the agency by hospitals or physicians, and hospital admission records that were used in the current study may capture additional cases that have not been reported to CDC.
While those admissions records did not include travel history, the researchers believe the malaria infections they documented most likely were acquired during travel to parts of Africa, Asia, and Latin America, where malaria is still common.
However, Dr Khuu noted that mosquitoes capable of carrying malaria are common in many parts of the US. So increases in the number of travelers coming home with the disease increases the risk of malaria re-establishing itself in the US.