First published record of urban malaria in Puerto Gaitán, Meta, Colombia

• Published in: Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz Vol. 108; no. 8
• Main Authors: Buitrago, Luz Stella, Brochero, Helena Luisa, McKeon, Sascha N, Lainhart, William, Conn, Jan E
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Fiocruz 17-02-2015
• Subjects: armed conflict; Colombia; epidemiology; malaria cases; Plasmodium falciparum; Plasmodium vivax
• ISSN: 1678-8060

Patterns of malaria cases were compared between the department of Meta
and the municipality of Puerto Gaitan, Colombia, to examine temporal
change in malaria from 2005-2010. During this time frame in Meta the
mean ratio was 2.53; in contrast, in Puerto Gaitan it was 1.41, meaning
that a surprisingly high proportion of Plasmodium falciparum cases were
reported from this municipality. A detailed analysis of data from
Puerto Gaitan for 2009 and 2010 detected a significant difference
(Χ2, p < 0.001) in the distribution of plasmodia, with
Plasmodium vivax more prevalent in 2009 and P. falciparum in 2010.
Males had the highest number of cases but there was no difference in
the distribution of cases between sexes and years. In both years, for
both sexes, people 16-40 accounted for the majority of cases (58.9% in
2009; 60.4% in 2010). There were significant differences in the
distribution of both P. vivax (Χ2, p < 0.01) and P. falciparum
cases (Χ2, p < 0.05) by geographic setting (urban vs.
non-urban) between years. Urban cases of both P. vivax and P.
falciparum are recorded in this study for the first time in Puerto
Gaitan, possibly the result of area wide displacement and migration due
to armed conflict.