Infection importation: a key challenge to malaria elimination on Bioko Island, Equatorial Guinea

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Abstract

Background

The impact of importation of falciparum malaria from mainland Equatorial Guinea on malaria infection in non-travellers and travellers on Bioko Island was examined.

Methods

Malaria indicator surveys were conducted in 2013 and 2014 to assess the association between malaria infection and travel to the mainland. Infection in non-travellers was compared in neighbourhoods of high travel and neighbourhoods of low travel. Boat passengers leaving from and arriving on the island were tested for infection.

Results

Children who had travelled to the mainland in the previous eight weeks were at greater risk of infection than those who had not travelled (56 vs 26% in 2013; 42 vs 18% in 2014). Children who had not travelled, living in localities with the highest proportion of travellers, were significantly more likely to be infected compared to those in localities with the smallest proportion of travellers (adjusted odds ratios 7.7 (95% CI 2.3-25) and 5.3 (95% CI 2.5-11) in 2013 and 2014, respectively). Infection in arriving boat passengers was substantially higher than in those departing (70 vs 38%, p = 0.017).

Discussion

Malaria importation by travellers poses a serious public health challenge affecting non-travellers as well as travellers.

Related collections

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Author and article information

Contributors

John Bradley: john.bradley@lshtm.ac.uk

Feliciano Monti: felixmonti@gmail.com

Andrea M Rehman: andrea.rehman@lshtm.ac.uk

Christopher Schwabe: cschwabe@mcd.org

Daniel Vargas: vargasdany@yahoo.es

Guillermo Garcia: ggarcia@mcd.org

Dianna Hergott: dhergott@mcd.org

Matilde Riloha: riloharivas@yahoo.es

Immo Kleinschmidt: Immo.Kleinschmidt@lshtm.ac.uk

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): Malar J

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): Malar. J

Title: Malaria Journal

Publisher: BioMed Central (London )

ISSN (Electronic): 1475-2875

Publication date (Electronic): 5 February 2015

Publication date PMC-release: 5 February 2015

Publication date Collection: 2015

Volume: 14

Electronic Location Identifier: 46

Affiliations

[ ]MRC Tropical Epidemiology Group, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK

[ ]Medical Care Development International, Malabo, Equatorial Guinea

[ ]Medical Care Development International, Silver Spring, MD USA

[ ]Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Malabo, Equatorial Guinea

Article

Publisher ID: 579

DOI: 10.1186/s12936-015-0579-5

PMC ID: 4323054

PubMed ID: 25651929

SO-VID: 130665dc-b0da-40a7-b095-5dc53a7027a0

License:

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver ( http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.