[Four cases of malaria in travellers. An emerging disease]

Four cases of malaria in patients who had travelled to Equatorial Guinea the previous weeks and had not received prophylaxis are presented. There were three men and one woman, two natives of Equatorial Guinea who had been living in Spain for a long time and the other two Spanish. Following a 15-30 day trip in Equatorial Guinea they all presented with fever, shivering, headache and diarrhea( two cases) five to ten days after their return. Only one patient presented splenomegaly. The thick blood smear showed plasmodia in all patients and P. falciparum was identified in only two patients. All of them were treated with doxycycline and quinine sulfate with a favourable outcome. Only one of the patients needed hospitalization. Following some aspects of the epidemiology, symptoms, diagnosis and treatment of this emerging disease are presented.