Merritt A, Ewald D, van den Hurk A F, Stephen S, Langrell J
Commun Dis Intell. 1998 Jan 22;22(1):1-2. doi: 10.33321/cdi.1998.22.1.
Two cases of Plasmodium vivax malaria acquired in the Torres Strait during 1997 are reported. The source of infection could not be firmly established but two possibilities are discussed. Anopheline mosquitoes are present in the Torres Strait, and malaria is frequently imported from Papua New Guinea (PNG), thus transmission by local mosquitoes poses an ongoing threat. However, in this particular location, Badu Island, no recent importation of malaria was identified and mosquito surveillance demonstrated low numbers of anopheline species at the time and for the preceding two years. These cases could also feasibly be explained by a variant of 'baggage malaria' in which mosquitoes already infected with the malaria parasite were imported from PNG in one of the small boats that regularly make this journey. These cases serve as a reminder to health care providers in northern Australia to consider the diagnosis of malaria in patients presenting with a febrile illness.
报告了1997年在托雷斯海峡感染间日疟原虫疟疾的两例病例。感染源无法确切确定，但讨论了两种可能性。托雷斯海峡存在按蚊，疟疾经常从巴布亚新几内亚（PNG）输入，因此当地蚊子传播构成持续威胁。然而，在这个特定地点，巴杜岛，近期未发现疟疾输入情况，蚊子监测表明当时及前两年按蚊种类数量较少。这些病例也可以用“行李疟疾”的一种变体来解释，即携带已感染疟原虫蚊子的小船定期从巴布亚新几内亚前往此地，疟原虫随船输入。这些病例提醒澳大利亚北部的医疗服务提供者，对于发热疾病患者要考虑疟疾的诊断。
