Summary
In the article, ‘Severely Imported Falciparum Malaria: A Cohort Study in 400 Critically Ill Adults’, Brunee, Tubac, Corne, Megarbane, Mira, and Peytel (2010) seek to carry out a large study on imported Malaria in non-endemic industrialized countries where such studies are missing, yet the imported cases of malaria are increasing. The authors seek to describe severe imported malaria in France among the adults and the risk factors of mortality during admission to ICU for people who have severe cases of imported Malaria. The study, which included a sample of 400 critically ill malaria patients in 145 ICUs in France, can be viewed as the largest study of its kind in Europe on imported malaria. The study found that most of the patients at 96% had acquired the disease from sub-Saharan Africa. Further, the median age of the sample population was 45 years.
Analysis
To identify the risk factors, many indicators of risk were considered in the study. Firstly, among these indicators and variables, old age was a key determinant of fatality for those who get admission to the ICU. In other words, among the reported mortality cases, people who were at an advanced age were more than the younger adults in the group. The second key variable and risk factor for death among the ICU-admitted malaria patients were identified as Coma. Critically ill patients together with those who were already in a coma at their admission to the ICU had higher chances of death in relation to those who were not in a coma. According to the study, coma indicated severe cerebral malaria, which is highly unresponsive to many anti-malarial medicines. This observation indicates a high risk of death. The last risk factor for death among critically ill patients of imported malaria is higher parasitemia. Higher parasitemia indicates high malaria parasite load. This finding correlates with higher risks for critically ill patients with imported malaria. Despite the above risk factors, the authors point out that the high mortality rate of 10.5% indicates the severity of imported malaria even in the presence of outstanding health care that is available in industrialized countries.
Key Elements
The research’s main idea is its focus on the increasing cases of mortality among critically ill patients who have imported malaria. The study clearly identifies the key factors for the trend among many variables that it investigates. For instance, the assertion that old age correlates with higher risk is clearly supported by the increasing number of older people who are traveling to risky areas such as Africa.
Reflection
The findings of the research are consistent with those of other researchers who have focused on imported malaria and risk factors. However, the large-scale research on this issue by the authors makes the results highly credible. The results can influence future actions and studies that will focus on identifying remedies and interventions for reducing high mortality rates among critically ill imported malaria patients. For instance, a focus on responsive medicine and early diagnosis can be a more effective approach to addressing imported malaria that seems to be getting out of hand and becoming a major problem, especially due to the increased movement of older people to malaria-prone areas such as sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. Another important recommendation from the research is the fact that there is a need to increase patients’ adherence to medication regimes that are recommended to them when they have better health intervention outcomes. The implications of these findings prove the need for more research on how to improve adherence to treatment among patients among other interventions for increasing recovery rates among imported malaria critically ill patients.
Reference List
Brunee, F., Tubac, F., Corne, P., Megarbane, B., Mira, J., & Peytel, E. (2010). Severe Imported Falciparum Malaria: A Cohort Study in 400 Critically Ill Adults. PLOS One, 5(10), e13236.