Malaria in pediatric age in the Piedmont Region

Pediatric malaria, even in countries considered as free as Italy, is an important problem of public health because children have a high variability of the clinical picture. The objective of this brief note is to determine the incidence of pediatric malaria in the Piedmont Region during the period 1989-2015.

All cases of pediatric malaria notified were considered thanks to the regional information flow over the period 1989-2015. Cases of congenital malaria, unconfirmed malaria cases, and aged 14 and older were excluded of the study.

In Piedmont in the period 1989-2015, pediatric malaria accounts for 8.8% of the total (172/1946 cases). 74% of patients are of foreign nationality, to which must be added the 14% represented by those born in Italy from foreign parents, while it is 100% the fraction of patients who have made a trip to the abroad. The notification of cases is greater in the autumn months. Only 7.6% of the sample carried out a complete chemoprophylaxis. In 79% of cases, the primary care physician advised chemoprophylaxis on trips to endemic areas.

At present, lacking an effective vaccine, the prevention and implementation of standard precautions such as chemoprophylaxis, represent the safest strategy to put into practice to eradicate the disease especially for the groups at greater risk as visiting friends and relatives.