International travel increase and malaria importation in Romania, 2008-2009

This report aims to assess the epidemiological characteristics of imported malaria in Romania in the context of international travel increase, and to compare them with the data reported by other European countries.

Data on malaria cases were provided by the National Centre for Surveillance and Control of the Communicable Disease, whereas the data regarding international travels to and from Romania were retrieved from the Romanian Statistical Yearbook.

The number of Romanian citizens who traveled to Africa in 2007 increased by over 600% as compared to the previous year. During the years 2008-2009, 25 cases of imported malaria were registered in Romania, with no fatalities. All patients were male and most of them (84%) acquired the infection in Africa. Plasmodium falciparum was involved in 68% of cases. The majority of the affected patients (41%) were aged 31 to 40 years. Labor was the main reason for traveling (72%), and 92% of cases took either partial or no chemoprophylaxis.

The continuous growth of professional and leisure voyages to malaria-endemic regions may lead to a dramatic increase of imported cases, especially if prophylactic measures are not strictly followed.