[Malaria situation in the People's Republic of China in 1997].

According to the case reporting system, the number of malaria cases in China numbered 34,645 (Taiwan Province and Hong Kong not included) in 1997, with a mean incidence of 2.91 per a hundred thousand and lethal cases of 46. However, the estimated number of actual malaria cases based on investigations at provincial level was 220,000-250,000, showing a slight diminution as compared with that in 1996. Yunnan and Hainan were continued to be the major provinces endemic for malaria, where the number of malaria cases amounted to 46% of the total in the whole country. In Yunnan Province, an increase of outbreak spots and resurgence of malaria incidence in border region were reported, while the incidence was stable or slightly declined in most other provinces, but was fluctuated in provinces distributed with Anopheles anthropophagus. Blood examination on febrile patients for 9,209,102 man/time in 1,294 counties of 18 provinces/municipalities/autonomous regions (P/M/A) with a population of 569,703,000 detected 26,816 cases positive for malaria parasite, showing a mean positive rate of 0.29%; of which the number of falciparum malaria cases were 4,114 (including mixed infections with vivax malaria, the same below), accounting for 15.3% of the total parasite positives; of the three quartan malaria cases detected, one was infected via blood transfusion. Totally 568,783 target-population and migratory people were surveyed, 2,861 were positive for malaria parasite, with a mean parasite rate of 0.50%; and 586 falciparum malaria cases were among the positives. As a whole, the endemicity of falciparum malaria was still confined to 44 counties of Hainan and Yunnan Provinces. Imported falciparum cases were reported in 74 counties located in 17 P/M/A, however, no introduced falciparum malaria cases were recorded.