Purpose: The purpose of this report is to describe the clinical, epidemiologic, and parasitological features and therapeutic modalities associated with cases of imported malaria managed at the Desgenettes Military Hospital in Lyon, France.
Material and methods: Review of the files of all patients treated for imported malaria in the emergency and travel medicine departments of the Desgenettes Military Hospital from January 1, 2006, through December 31, 2008.
Results: The study included 115 patients (13 of them French armed forces personnel). Most cases (75.6%) were due to falciparum malaria. Only 28.7% of patients had taken proper malaria prophylaxis. Severe symptoms were seen in none of the ambulatory care patients versus 22.7% of the hospitalized patients. Quinine treatment was used for 67% of ambulatory care patients and 89.4% of those hospitalized.
Conclusions: The epidemiologic features observed in the patients described here are similar to those reported by the French national reference center for imported and autochthonous malaria. The frequent use of quinine for ambulatory treatment was not consistent with current guidelines recommending first-line treatment with atovaquone-proguanil or artemether-lumefantrine.