info:eu-repo/semantics/article
Malaria in selected non-Amazonian countries of Latin America
Registro en:
0001-706X
10.1016/j.actatropica.2011.06.008
1873-6254
Autor
Piñeros Jiménez, Juan Gabriel
Arevalo Herrera, Myriam
Quiñones, Martha Lucía
Guerra, Carlos
Céspedes, Nora
Giron, Sandra
Ahumada, Martha
Padilla, Norma
Terrientes, Zilka
Rosas, Ángel
Padilla, Julio Cesar
Escalante, Ananias A.
Beierm, John C.
Herrera, Socrates
Institución
Resumen
ABSTRACT: Approximately 170 million inhabitants of the American continent live at risk of malaria
transmission. Although the continent’s contribution to the global malaria burden is small, at least 1
to 1.2 million malaria cases are reported annually. Sixty per cent of the malaria cases occur in
Brazil and the other 40% are distributed in 20 other countries of Central and South America.
Plasmodium vivax is the predominant species (74.2 %) followed by P. falciparum (25.7 %) and P.
malariae (0.1%), and no less than 10 Anopheles species have been identified as primary or
secondary malaria vectors. Rapid deforestation and agricultural practices are directly related to
increases in Anopheles species diversity and abundance, as well as in the number of malaria cases.
Additionally, climate changes profoundly affect malaria transmission and are responsible for
malaria epidemics in some regions of South America. Parasite drug resistance is increasing, but
due to bio-geographic barriers there is extraordinary genetic differentiation of parasites with
limited dispersion. Although the clinical spectrum ranges from uncomplicated to severe malaria
cases, due to the generally low to middle transmission intensity, features such as severe anemia,
cerebral malaria and other complications appear to be less frequent than in other endemic regions
and asymptomatic infections are a common feature. Although the National Malaria Control
Programs (NMCP) of different countries differ in their control activities these are all directed to
reduce morbidity and mortality by using strategies like health promotion, vector control and
impregnate bed nets among others. Recently, international initiatives such as the Malaria Control
Program in Andean-country Border Regions (PAMAFRO) (implemented by the Andean
Organism for Health (ORAS) and sponsored by The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and
Malaria (GFATM)) and The Amazon Network for the Surveillance of Antimalarial Drug
Resistance (RAVREDA) (sponsored by the Pan American Health Organization/World Health
Organization (PAHO/WHO) and several other partners), have made great investments for malaria
control in the region. We describe here the current status of malaria in a non-Amazonian region
comprising several countries of South and Central America participating in the Centro Latino
Americano de Investigación en Malaria (CLAIM), an International Center of Excellence for
Malaria Research (ICEMR) sponsored by the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) National
Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). COL0007524