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Overview :
Kain identified a series of risk factors seen in travelers from
developed countries who died from malaria. These factors can help direct efforts
to reduce unnecessary mortality.
Preventable risk factors in travelers who died from malaria:
(1) failure to
take appropriate chemoprophylaxis
(2) failure of
the physician to consider malaria as a diagnosis when the patient initially
presented
(3) failure of
the laboratory to detect or properly identify the parasite
(4) treatment
with an inappropriate drug regimen
(5) drug
regimen administered by an inappropriate route (oral when intravenous route
indicated)
Based on these factors, the following steps can reduce
mortality:
(1) A traveler
to a malarial region should use appropriate chemoprophylaxis.
(2) A
physician should always consider malaria in a patient how gives an appropriate
travel history.
(3)
Laboratories should be familiar and proficient in the identification of
malaria.
(4) Treatment
should consist of appropriate drugs delivered by an effective route, based on
recommendations from the CDC, an infectious disease consultant or other health
resource.
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