[Malaria in Israel--can severe malaria related morbidity and mortality be prevented?]

Malaria was eradicated in Israel about 50 years ago. Despite this, the number of cases of malaria in Israel has been increasing in the past few years due to imported malaria from endemic countries. Although malaria is a preventable and treatable disease, severe and fatal cases of malaria occur every year. The majority of malaria cases occur in travelers who did not take prophylaxis. Therefore, there is a tendency to blame them for their severe disease. However, malaria morbidity and mortality increases with any delay in diagnosis and treatment. Hence, it should be emphasized, that there are three links to this chain: the patient who did not take malaria prophylaxis, the physician who failed to consider malaria as the diagnosis of a febrile patient who had just returned from an endemic area, and finally, the hospitals that usually do not store anti-malarial medication. Action should therefore be taken on three levels: first and most easily remedied--hospitals should have anti-malarial medication available by law. Second are the physicians who must be educated with regard to the risk of malaria in returning travelers, and methods of diagnosis. Thirdly, efforts must continue to increase compliance of malaria prophylaxis among travelers to endemic areas.