Evidence map›Paper›PMID 31992561›Full record

ArticleCMAJ open

Risk of malaria associated with travel to malaria-endemic areas to visit friends and relatives: a population-based case-control study.

Dewdunee H Marasinghe, James Cheaveau, Bonnie Meatherall, Susan Kuhn, Stephen Vaughan, Rudolf Zimmer, Dylan R Pillai

Open access · diamondAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in CMAJ open. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
9citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
2.3field-weighted citation impact, top 11% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

9 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 19 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Long-acting intramuscular injections of ELQ-331, an antimalarial agent.European journal of pharmaceutical sciences : official journal of the European Federation for Pharmaceutical Sciences · 2024
    Article
  4. Review
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Medical Advice for Travelers.Deutsches Arzteblatt international · 2021
    Review
  9. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 1 institution in 2 countries.

Dewdunee H MarasingheDepartment of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health (Marasinghe), McGill University, Montréal, Que.; Departments of Microbiology, Immunology and Infectious Diseases (Cheaveau, Pillai), Medicine (Meatherall, Vaughan, Pillai), Pediatrics (Kuhn), Community Health Sciences (Zimmer, Pillai) and Pathology and Laboratory Medicine (Pillai), University of Calgary, Calgary, Alta.
James CheaveauDepartment of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health (Marasinghe), McGill University, Montréal, Que.; Departments of Microbiology, Immunology and Infectious Diseases (Cheaveau, Pillai), Medicine (Meatherall, Vaughan, Pillai), Pediatrics (Kuhn), Community Health Sciences (Zimmer, Pillai) and Pathology and Laboratory Medicine (Pillai), University of Calgary, Calgary, Alta.
Bonnie MeatherallDepartment of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health (Marasinghe), McGill University, Montréal, Que.; Departments of Microbiology, Immunology and Infectious Diseases (Cheaveau, Pillai), Medicine (Meatherall, Vaughan, Pillai), Pediatrics (Kuhn), Community Health Sciences (Zimmer, Pillai) and Pathology and Laboratory Medicine (Pillai), University of Calgary, Calgary, Alta.
Susan KuhnDepartment of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health (Marasinghe), McGill University, Montréal, Que.; Departments of Microbiology, Immunology and Infectious Diseases (Cheaveau, Pillai), Medicine (Meatherall, Vaughan, Pillai), Pediatrics (Kuhn), Community Health Sciences (Zimmer, Pillai) and Pathology and Laboratory Medicine (Pillai), University of Calgary, Calgary, Alta.
Stephen VaughanDepartment of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health (Marasinghe), McGill University, Montréal, Que.; Departments of Microbiology, Immunology and Infectious Diseases (Cheaveau, Pillai), Medicine (Meatherall, Vaughan, Pillai), Pediatrics (Kuhn), Community Health Sciences (Zimmer, Pillai) and Pathology and Laboratory Medicine (Pillai), University of Calgary, Calgary, Alta.
Rudolf ZimmerDepartment of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health (Marasinghe), McGill University, Montréal, Que.; Departments of Microbiology, Immunology and Infectious Diseases (Cheaveau, Pillai), Medicine (Meatherall, Vaughan, Pillai), Pediatrics (Kuhn), Community Health Sciences (Zimmer, Pillai) and Pathology and Laboratory Medicine (Pillai), University of Calgary, Calgary, Alta.
Dylan R PillaiDepartment of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health (Marasinghe), McGill University, Montréal, Que.; Departments of Microbiology, Immunology and Infectious Diseases (Cheaveau, Pillai), Medicine (Meatherall, Vaughan, Pillai), Pediatrics (Kuhn), Community Health Sciences (Zimmer, Pillai) and Pathology and Laboratory Medicine (Pillai), University of Calgary, Calgary, Alta. drpillai@ucalgary.ca.
McGill University Health Centre · CA

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundReports relying on population-based data and using epidemiologic methodologies such as case-control study designs for malaria in travellers and multivariable regression analysis of risk factors are rare. The aim of this study was to investigate the epidemiologic characteristics of travellers who tested positive for malaria after visiting friends and relatives in malaria-endemic areas to determine the risk of malaria associated with such travel.

methodsUsing routinely collected data from a population-based laboratory database, we conducted a case-control study of symptomatic people returning from travel to malaria-endemic areas who presented for malaria testing in Calgary from 2013 to 2017. We used a multivariable logistic regression to analyze the association between the presence of malaria and other risk factors.

resultsThere were 251 confirmed malaria cases during the study period, of which 219 were matched to 1129 returning travellers without malaria. Based on the multivariable regression, the odds of a traveller who visited friends and relatives in malariaendemic areas being diagnosed with malaria was 2.82 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.42-5.92) times greater than that of other travellers to these regions. Adults (odds ratio [OR] 3.62, 95% CI 1.66-8.84), males (OR 2.70, 95% CI 1.56-4.80), travellers to Africa (OR 11.52, 95% CI 6.33-22.05) and those who did not seek pretravel advice (OR 0.38, 95% CI 0.20-0.70) were more likely to be diagnosed with malaria. Although those travelling to visit friends and relatives tended to stay longer in endemic areas than other travellers, visit duration was not associated with an increased likelihood of malaria in the model. The annual incidence of malaria was highest (13.34 per 100 000) in metropolitan wards associated with lower socioeconomic status and immigrant communities.

interpretationTravellers who visited friends and relatives in malaria-endemic areas were less likely than other travellers to these regions to seek pretravel advice, take prophylaxis and have a visit duration less than 2 weeks; travelling to Africa and being male increased the odds of being diagnosed with malaria, independent of other factors. These data suggest that targeted strategies to provide pretravel care to travellers who visit friends and relatives in malaria-endemic areas may aid in reducing the burden of malaria in this population.

Indexed as

Travel-Related IllnessCase-Control StudiesFamilyFriendsGeography, MedicalHumansMalariaPopulation SurveillanceRisk AssessmentRisk FactorsTravel

Identifiers

PMID31992561
PMCPMC6996033
OpenAlexW3003914163

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.