Malaria in Townsville
Meagher, P.D.
Medical Journal of Australia 156(10): 741-742
1992
ISSN/ISBN: 0025-729X PMID: 1620027 Document Number: 390952
Attention is drawn to the fact that malaria is now being diagnosed more frequently in Townsville, Queensland, Australia (more than 50 cases in 1991). In February 1992, 6 cases of malaria were diagnosed at Townsville General Hospital. 5 of these were falciparum malaria and one involved a student from Papua new Guinea who had cerebral malaria. The increasing number of cases is believed to be the result of the increasing number of diagnoses being made in students from Papua New Guinea. When these students arrive in Australia, they rapidly lose their existing immunity to malaria and can express latent infections. As Anopheles occurs in Townsville the risk of local mosquito transmission increases with the number of cases diagnosed locally. The correspondent documents the increase in numbers of cases of malaria (both vivax and falciparum, although vivax is now about 3 times as predominant as falciparum) in Townsville General Hospital in Queensland, Australia, in 1986-91. The increase is attributed to increasing numbers of students from Papua New Guinea who "rapidly lose their existing immunity to malaria", expressing latent disease sometimes within days. Of 124 students at one school in 1991 4.6% had subclinical malaria. The potential for spread and reestablishment of malaria is illustrated by the presence of an anopheline vector in the area.D.W. FitzSimons.