Malária – A 12 Years Retrospective Study at Braga Hospital

Abstract

Background: Malaria represents the most significant of parasitic diseases in humans. The last endemic cases reported in Portugal
date back to 1959 and since then all cases have been imported.
Objective: characterize the malaria cases diagnosed in a Portuguese hospital from 2002 to 2013.
Material and Methods: Retrospective analysis of the clinical and epidemiological characteristics of the patients positive for
Plasmodium.
Results: The study sample included 51 patients, 44 of which were male, and with a mean age of 38 years old. The majority of the
patients were of Portuguese nationality and the most common origin of transmission was Africa, followed by Timor and Brazil. Most of the patients were Portuguese professionals working abroad with previous history of malaria that were not on chemoprophylaxis. The most common symptom was fever followed by headache and myalgia, associated with raised inflammatory
markers, thrombocytopenia and liver dysfunction. Plasmodium falciparum was the most common diagnosed species and 15
patients filled the criteria for severe malaria. Most cases required hospital admission and the most frequent treatment consisted of
quinine and doxycycline. Throughout the 12 years there was only 1 case of death which represents an overall mortality rate of 2%.
Conclusion: New trends in emigration destinations and longterm travelers to endemic countries will certainly increase the
number of malaria cases. It is therefore vital direct to our efforts into the improvement of diagnostic methods, treatment and
pre-travel advice.