Malaria is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in Uganda; its effects are severe on Ugandans and non-Ugandans (expatriates) alike. This paper reports on malaria prevention, diagnostic methods, and treatment activities of 292 expatriate workers and their dependents from 15 North American and European agencies working in Uganda between March 1992 and May 1993. Prevention behaviors reported by these individuals include home screens (82.1%), chemoprophylaxis usage (73.9%), and mosquito bed-net usage (43.8%). Eighty persons reported contracting malaria at least once during the 15 months of the study period for a rate of 57.1 episodes/year/100 persons (two to seven times higher than other studies). The majority of expatriate workers in this study (72.8%) sought confirmation of the diagnosis of malaria at laboratory facilities in Uganda and were treated most consistently with HalfanŽ, quinine, and FansidarŽ. The mean number of workdays lost due to malaria was 5.8 days per worker (R-0-30, M=4.0) with an additional 5.4 days of low productivity reported (R=0-28, M=3.0). While the effect of travel on the malarial rate is uncertain, those expatriates with work-related travel showed an increased risk with a RR of 1.83 (CI 1.07, 3.12).
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: International Health, Occupational Health
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.