'They are the dehydrated ... they have low blood counts, especially platelets, which puts them at risk for bleeding. Some of them have had renal kidney failure, which is one of the complications of malaria,' one doctor treating U.S. malaria patients says.
The cases are the first in 20 years to be acquired in the U.S.on June 26 asking hospitals to be on the lookout for patients with malaria symptoms and prepare to rapidly diagnose them and start administering antimalarial drugs within 24 hours.
"Some of the cases were sort of neglecting the symptoms and they presented way late with other complications," he said. "This is not a panicking thing, but it’s also not something where we should say,'Well, it’s so unusual, we shouldn’t worry about it.' It’s a warning to keep surveillance up," Wirth said.
Before the Covid pandemic, the U.S. saw around 2,000 cases of malaria each year, though nearly all were in people who had traveled to other countries.The recent U.S. cases were caused by a parasite called P. vivax, which is the. P. vivax isn’t as deadly as some other parasites that cause malaria, but it can lie dormant in the liver and cause chronic infections months to years after an initial illness.
Gordillo said Coartem is a three-day treatment. After that, he said, patients receive a two-week treatment of a drug called primaquine, which can be taken at home. However, some patients have required lengthier hospital stays, he said. The average female Anopheles mosquito — the most common malaria transmitter — lives about two to three weeks, and it takes about seven to 10 days for a parasite to develop in the mosquito, Wirth said. The insects travel about 1.2 miles maximum,Gordillo said all six of Florida’s cases are from a northern region of Sarasota County, which has wooded areas and has experienced rain recently. Mosquito populations are usually largest in the summer, and Florida’s humidity is ideal for them to breed.
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