Resumen

MARQUETTI FERNANDEZ, María del Carmen; VELASQUEZ VIAMONTES, Beltrán  y  COX IRAOLA, Raymundo. Malaria diagnosis during the training of the Cuban staff in Haiti. Rev Cubana Med Trop [online]. 2013, vol.65, n.1, pp.125-130. ISSN 0375-0760.

Introduction: malaria in Haiti is a health problem affecting over 75% of the population in risky areas mainly located at more than 500m over the sea level. Ninety eight percent of malaria diagnosed by thick drop test is caused by Plasmodium falciparum. Objective: to learn about the malaria diagnosis during the training courses given to the Cuban staff in 7 Haitian departments, as part of the assistance work provided by Cuba after the earthquake of January 2010. Methods: the training was carried out in 13 communes distributed into 7 departments and 2 hospitals in Porto Prince. The Cuban staff was trained in diagnosing malaria according to the described methodology in the diagnosis manual of the Ministry of Health of Cuba. Results: twenty one Cuban cooperators were trained. Two thousand eighty four slides were tested, 147 of which were positive (7.05 %) to Plasmodium falciparum. The highest positivity rate was found in Cayes, Jacmel, Petit Goave, Thomazeau and Grand Goave. Out of the 147 positive slides, 88 (59.9 %) presented just trophozoites, 31 (21 %) had gametocytes and one (0.7 %) esquizonts whereas the other 27(18.4 %) exhibited combinations of several phases of the parasite. Conclusions: there are big differences between the number of suspected cases of malaria and that of confirmed cases, therefore, it is necessary to encourage and increase the quality of parasitological diagnosis together with the identification of the parasite phases, in order to collect reliable data on the real incidence and risk of transmission of this disease.

Palabras clave : malaria; diagnosis; Plasmodium falciparum; training; Haiti.

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