Malaria imported into the United Kingdom in 1992 and 1993

A total of 1,629 cases of malaria were reported in the United Kingdom in 1992, and 1,922 cases in 1993, fewer than the peak of 2,332 reached in 1991. Of the 3,551 cases of malaria reported during 1992 and 1993, 74 were reported from Scotland, 45 from Wales, and 13 from Northern Ireland. Fourteen people died of falciparum malaria in the two years, 12 of whom contracted the disease in Africa and two in India. Preventive measures were inadequately followed by 12 of the 14 patients who died, eight of whom took no prophylaxis at all, and diagnosis was delayed in the other two. Over a third of the malaria cases were immigrants from endemic areas who had settled in the United Kingdom and who travelled to visit friends and relations. This was the commonest reason for travel given by cases, and correlates with a marked rise in falciparum malaria in settled immigrants from West Africa.