[The epidemiology of malaria in Adana between 2002 and 2012]

We aimed to evaluate the epidemiological data of malaria cases in Adana province of Turkey, between 2002 and 2012.

Active and passive surveillance results collected by the Malaria and Tropical Diseases Education and Research Center of the Adana Public Health Directorship were evaluated retrospectively. The patients were evaluated according to age group, gender, months, malaria species, and whether imported cases or not.

Two hundred fifty-two patients were diagnosed with malaria during a period of 11 years. Among these patients, 148 (58.7%) were male and 104 (41.3%) were female. Plasmodium vivax was detected in 229 (90.9%) patients, and P. falciparum was detected in 23 (8.1%) patients. All P. falciparum cases and six of the P. vivax cases were of foreign origin. When the patients were evaluated according to age group, 203 (80.5%) were over 15 years of age, and it was statistically significant (p<0.05).

Çukurova is an endemic region for malaria, and Adana is the largest city in the region. We believe that surveillance studies conducted without any interruption may prevent malaria from becoming a reemerging problem in this region.