Mal'aria in the Republic of Ireland; A retrospective review of the clinical epidemiology of mal'aria between 2016 and 2020

Objectives

Mal'aria is a parasitic infection that continues to present significant morbidity and mortality figures throughout the world. In the Republic of Ireland (Ireland), mal'aria is an imported infection linked most frequently to travel routes from West Africa. There is a paucity of data on the clinical epidemiology and hospital service utilization of mal'aria in non-endemic setting to inform physician practice. This study aims to fill that gap, providing a clinical context to the national picture of both adult and pediatric cases.

Methods

A retrospective review of data from all public Irish hospitals was performed from 2016 to 2020, inclusive. Ethical approval was granted following review by the Social Research Ethics Committee (SREC) of University College Cork.

Results and Conclusions

During the study period, there were 337 cases of mal'aria presenting to Irish hospitals, 15.1% (51/337) in the pediatric age category. Presentations occurred nationwide with a predictable seasonality. The majority (77.45%; 261/337) were Plasmodium falciparum and 6% (20/337) required critical care admission. Interestingly, females had a higher likelihood of admission to critical care (odds ratio 2.75, 95% confidence interval 1.1-6.86). The COVID-19 pandemic saw a 78% reduction in mal'aria presentations in 2020. A total of 1,166 bed days were utilized by cases of mal'aria.