Epidemiological characteristics of malaria in Jinhua, Zhejiang, 1991-2015

Objective To analyze the epidemiological characteristics of malaria in Jinhua, Zhejiang province, from 1991 to 2015, and provide evidence to conduct malaria elimination surveillance. Methods The data about epidemic and case reports of malaria in Jinhua during this period were collected and analyzed with SPSS 13.0. Results Since the launch of malaria elimination in 2010, a total of 231 cases were reported between 2010 and 2015 and the average incidence was 0.77/100 000, which was significantly lower than that before 2010 (0.91/100 000, 2=5.04, P=0.02). Of the 231 cases reported, 44 (19.05%) were vivax malaria cases and 173 (74.89%) were falciparum malaria cases; 230 (99.57%) were imported cases, the cases umbers were significantly higher than that before 2010 (88.48%, 2=26.82, P0.001). The average age of the cases was (3710.71) years old; the male to female ratio of the cases was 9.5:1. The cases were reported all the year round without seasonality.Most cases were reported in Yiwu (147 cases, 63.64%); these cases were mainly businessmen (54.55%). Up to 73.59% of the malaria cases in Jinhua were infected abroad, the first 3 infection sources were Angola (16.96%), Ghana (10.87%) and Nigeria (9.13%), and most cases went abroad for business trip (56.09%) or tourism (36.96%). Conclusion The fact that all the malaria cases in Jinhua between 2011 and 2015 were imported ones highlighted the importance of the surveillance and control of imported malaria.