The head louse in Italy: an epidemiological study among schoolchildren.
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to G Majori.
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The impact of malaria on Italian troops taking part in 1992-1994 in the United Nations Organization humanitarian missions in Somalia and Mozambique is discussed. In Somalia, 18 cases of Plasmodium falciparum malaria occurred among 11,600 soldiers; the overall attack rate was 0.4 cases/1000/month of exposure and the risk of malaria was effectively reduced by chemoprophylaxis with chloroquine plus proguanil (C+P) (odds ratio [OR] = 0.05, 95% confidence limits [95% CL] 0.02-0.16). In Mozambique, 119 cases of P.falciparum malaria occurred among 4800 soldiers; most cases (100) occurred in the first months of deployment (late March-June 1993), with an attack rate of 17 cases/1000/month, when C+P was the recommended chemoprophylactic regimen; the remaining 19 cases occurred subsequently, with an attack rate of 1.8 cases/1000/month, after C+P was replaced by mefloquine in July 1993. Protection achieved by C+P was unsatisfactory (OR = 0.37, 95% CL 0.21-0.67), while chemoprophylaxis with mefloquine effectively reduced the risk of malaria in Mozambique (OR = 0.03; 95% CL 0.01-0.10). A significant number of malaria infections was also detected among soldiers following their return home from Somalia (147 cases) and Mozambique (40 cases); these were due mainly to P. vivax. Fifteen of 113 P. vivax primary infections imported from Somalia (13.3%) relapsed 2-13 months after the primary attack. Because of the small proportion of relapsing P. vivax tropical strains, primaquine may be limited to radical treatment of relapses or, more extensively, of all P. vivax infections, but it should not be necessarily given to all asymptomatic subjects returning from tropical endemic areas, as is generally suggested for particular groups at risk.
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BACKGROUND: Malaria was endemic throughout the country until it was eradicated nearly 50 years ago. Since then, mainly imported malaria cases have been reported to the National Health Service, with an increasing trend. The aim of this study was to present a detailed analysis of the current epidemiological situation of malaria in Italy, and to make a first attempt to calculate the incidence of malaria in Italian international travelers. METHODS: An archive of confirmed malaria cases is available at the Istituto Superiore di Sanità (ISS), the National Institute of Health of Italy, based on the mandatory report system. Data from each case report reported to the ISS from 1989 to 1997 have been analyzed. An evaluation of malaria incidence in Italian travelers has been also performed for the same period, based on the statistics provided by the Ministry of Transport. RESULTS: From 1989 to 1997, a total of 5,898 microscopically confirmed malaria cases have been reported. Of these, 5,773 (97.9%) were imported cases, 106 cases (1.8%) were relapses of Plasmodium vivax or Plasmodium ovale infections, and 19 cases (0.3%) occurred in subjects who had never been out of Italy. During the period of study, 55 deaths due to Plasmodium falciparum malaria were reported, with a mean fatality rate of 1.2%. Malaria incidence in Italians who traveled to Africa was estimated to be 1.5/1000. These figures appeared to be 10-20 and 30-40 times greater than that recorded in travelers to Asia (0.11/1000) and Central-South America (0.04/1000) respectively. CONCLUSIONS: From 1989 to 1997, there has been a remarkable increase in the total number of imported malaria cases in Italy, which reached a peak of more than 800 cases/year in 1997. A constant increase in the number of cases affecting foreigners has been reported, while the cases among Italians have remained stable. From 1989 to 1997 the number of Italian intercontinental travelers has nearly doubled, but malaria incidence has remained quite stable.
Because of concern about the possible reintroduction of malaria transmission in Italy, we analyzed the epidemiologic factors involved and determined the country's malariogenic potential. Some rural areas in central and southern Italy have high receptivity because of the presence of potential malaria vectors. Anopheles labranchiae is probably susceptible to infection with Plasmodium vivax strains, but less likely to be susceptible to infection with P. falciparum. Its vulnerability is low because of the low presence of gametocyte carriers (imported cases) during the season climatically favorable to transmission. The overall malariogenic potential of Italy appears to be low, and reintroduction of malaria is unlikely in most of the country. However, our investigations showed that the malaria situation merits ongoing epidemiologic surveillance.
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