Malaria

General Information and Programs

Malaria

Research

2011

Malaria Surveillance - United States, 2009 (4/29/2011)
In the United States, malaria cases can occur through exposure to infected blood products, congenital transmission, or local mosquitoborne transmission. Malaria surveillance is conducted to identify episodes of local transmission and to guide prevention recommendations for travelers. This report summarizes cases in persons with onset of illness in 2009 and summarizes trends during previous years.

Malaria Surveillance - United States, 2009 (4/20/2011)
In 2009, a total 19 cases of malaria were reported among pregnant women and three congenital malaria cases. Of the 19 cases in pregnant women, two had severe malaria, and none reported adherence to the chemoprophylaxis drug regimen.

Update: New Recommendations for Mefloquine Use in Pregnancy (12/8/2011)
CDC now recommends the antimalarial drug mefloquine for pregnant women both as a malaria treatment option and as an option to prevent malaria infection for all trimesters.

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2005

Easy Read Pregnancy, Travel, and Malaria: A Cautionary Tale (10/30/05)
All travelers to malaria-risk areas should take precautions against this dangerous mosquito-borne disease. Pregnant women who are at especially high risk should avoid traveling to malaria-risk areas if at all possible. If a pregnant woman must travel to a malaria-risk area, she should make sure to take all necessary precautions (including antimalaria pills) against malaria.

Congenital Malaria- Nassau County, New York, 2004 (5/30/05)
PDF (p. 383)
This report describes the first documented case of congenital malaria acquired in Nassau County, New York, which is the fifth case of congenital malaria reported in the United States since 2000. Health-care providers should consider malaria as a diagnosis in neonates and young infants, particularly those with fever, whose mothers emigrated from areas where malaria is endemic.

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2004

Malaria during Pregnancy (9/30/04)
Pregnant women are particularly vulnerable to malaria. In areas where malaria is common, health ministries now strive to make malaria prevention part of normal antenatal care. Infection with P. falciparum during pregnancy increases the mother’s risk of developing severe disease and anemia, and increases the risk of stillbirth and prematurity.

Maternal Malaria and Perinatal HIV Transmission, Western Kenya (3/30/04)
This evaluation of perinatal HIV transmission in a malarious area of western Kenya demonstrated that approximately 20% of infants born to HIV-infected mothers acquired HIV by 4 months of age, similar to rates reported in other sub-Saharan African settings. Consistent with other studies, maternal viral load in peripheral blood at the time of delivery and having an episiotomy or perineal tear were risk factors for perinatal mother-to-child HIV transmission (MTCT). Women with placental malaria had lower rates of perinatal MTCT than women without placental malaria. However, women with high-density malaria had significantly higher rates of perinatal MTCT than parasitemic women with low-density malaria. Malaria during pregnancy is a serious problem in sub-Saharan Africa, affecting an estimated 24 million pregnant women; malaria prevalence may exceed 50% among primigravid and secundigravid women in malaria-endemic areas.

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