Malaria in the whole world and in Romania

Malaria is the world's most important tropical parasitic disease. Malaria is a public health problem today in more than 90 countries. Worldwide prevalence of the disease is estimated to be in the order of 300-500 million clinical cases each year. Malaria is endemic in a total of 101 countries and territories. In Romania, malaria does not represent an important public health problem. In 1999, there were reported a total number of 32 malaria cases in Romanian people. 78% from these recognized as etiological agent Pl. falciparum. The malaria cases imported from Turkey (5) have had as etiological agent Pl. vivax. The most affected age group is between 21-50 years and a distribution by profession shows that sailor personnel accounts for 65.6% of all cases. Africa remains the most important endemic region from where the malaria cases in Romanian people are imported. An adequate chemoprophylaxis is not, yet, easy to obtain for Romanian people who are travelling abroad in endemic countries because of the lack of specific drugs (especially for resistant forms of Pl. falciparum). Even if the Romanian Ministry of Health had elaborated orders regarding malaria and Cloroquine is the usual drug administered, as chemoprophylaxis, to Romanian people who travel abroad, in each year in our country appears around 30-60 imported malaria cases. That is the cause why Romanian Ministry of Health wants to solve this problem which is the major cause of the malaria cases in Romanian people.