Imported malaria in South-west Delhi: Five-year epidemiological trends (2020-2024) from a fever clinic and implications for urban malaria elimination.

Kumar M, Pal O, Saini S, Savargaonkar D, Anvikar A, Bharti PK, Nitika N.

Journal ArticleOpen access

AI summary — for doctors, generated from the abstract only

Malaria in south-west Delhi is now mostly Plasmodium vivax and increasingly imported, with imported cases rising from 52% to 67% of cases between 2020 and 2024.

What was studied

An analysis of clinical records from the Fever Clinic at ICMR-National Institute of Malaria Research, New Delhi, screening febrile patients by rapid diagnostic test and microscopy and classifying cases as imported or indigenous using travel history in the prior 30 days.

Key findings

Among 7,257 fever cases, 58 (0.8%) were malaria positive
P. vivax accounted for 94.8% (55/58) and P. falciparum for 3.4% (2/58)
Males (70.7%) and those aged 18-45 (60.3%) predominated
Imported cases were 51.7% (30/58), with 76.7% of these from six Uttar Pradesh districts
Imported proportion rose from 52.2% in 2020 to 66.7% in 2024 as indigenous cases declined

Clinical relevance

The pattern supports case-based surveillance, cross-notification and interstate collaboration for urban malaria elimination, though the data come from one clinic with small absolute numbers.

Who should care

Infectious Disease

Limitations

Single fever clinic with only 58 positive cases over five years, so yearly proportions rest on very small numbers.

Delhi's remaining malaria largely arrives from elsewhere, which changes what elimination requires.

This is an AI-generated summary of the published abstract, not a clinical recommendation. It may not reflect the full text or subsequent updates — verify against the original source before acting on it.

Abstract

Background objectives

Urban malaria remains a significant public health challenge, driven by population mobility, and complex transmission dynamics. To characterize the epidemiological profile of malaria cases, with emphasis on demographic patterns, parasite species distribution, and contribution of imported malaria in South-west Delhi.

Methods

The clinical records from the Fever Clinic at ICMR-National Institute of Malaria Research, New Delhi were analysed. Febrile patients were screened for malaria using rapid diagnostic tests and microscopic examination of peripheral blood smears. Data on age, gender, parasite species, stage and travel history (past 30 days) to malariaendemic areas were extracted. Cases were classified as imported or indigenous based on established epidemiological criteria.

Results

Among 7257 fever cases, 58 (0.8%) were tested malaria positive. Plasmodium vivax accounted for 94.8% (55/58) of cases and P. falciparum for 3.4% (2/58). Males (70.7%) and individuals aged 18-45 yrs (60.3%) were most affected. Imported cases accounted for 51.7% (30/58), with 76.7% (23/30) from Aligarh, Amorha, Budaun, Bulandshahr, Hardoi and Shahjahanpur districts. The proportion of imported cases increased from 52.2% in 2020 to 66.7% in 2024, concurrent with a decline in indigenous malaria cases.

Interpretation conclusion

Malaria persists in South-west Delhi, with low transmission, P. vivax predominance and substantial, increasing proportion of imported cases from neighbouring districts of Uttar Pradesh and other endemic areas. These findings highlight the critical need for strengthening cross-notification to State, case-based surveillance and inter-state collaboration, targeted vector control and pre-emptive interventions in both recipient area and districts from where population migrates to Delhi with malaria infection to sustain malaria elimination in urban India.

DOI

10.4103/jvbd.jvbd_286_25

PMID

41706427

Research metadata (titles, abstracts, authors, publication dates) is sourced from Europe PMC, which aggregates content from PubMed/MEDLINE, PubMed Central, and other providers under the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM/NCBI). NLM does not claim copyright on abstracts; the original journal publishers or authors may hold rights to the full articles. AI-generated summaries are derived only from the abstract, never the full text, and are always labeled as AI-generated.

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