Malaria imported into the United Kingdom 1989 and 1990

Imported malaria cases reported to the Malaria Reference Laboratory as occurring in the United Kingdom have remained at around 2,000 cases annually for the past seven years. However, there has been a steady increase in falciparum malaria which now accounts for 52% of the cases, with mixed infections that include P. falciparum providing another 2% of the 4083 cases reported in the two years 1989-90. Compared with 1986, there has been a substantial increase in P. falciparum of African origin and a fall in Asian P. vivax. Eight people died. Except for one case who had had a previous splenectomy, either the fatal cases had taken no prophylaxis or diagnosis was very late, usually on a mistaken assumption that the patient had influenza. The future is likely to see continuing preponderance of P. falciparum infections, with an increasing problem of multiple drug resistance.