Abstract:

Malaria epidemiological data in 31 provinces/municipalities/autonomous regions (excluding Taiwan region, Hong Kong SAR and Macao SAR) of China in 2022 were collected from the Information System for Parasitic Diseases Prevention and Control. The epidemiological characteristic of malaria cases was analyzed. In 2022, a total of 845 malaria cases were reported in China, which is increased by 5.8% compared to that in 2021 (799 cases). Of all these cases, 844 were imported cases and 1 was local recurrent case infected with Plasmodium malariae with along incubation period. In addition, 820 cases were of Chinese nationality (97.0%, 820/845) and 25 cases were of foreign nationality (3.0%, 25/845). Most of the cases were within the age range of 50-59 years (29.5%, 249/845), with a male-to-female ratio of 17.0:1. The reported cases included 494 cases of P. falciparum infection (58.8%, 494/845), 204 cases of P. vivax infection (24.1%, 204/845), 108 cases of P. ovale infection (12.8%, 108/845), 31 cases of P. malariae infection (3.7%, 31/845), and 8 cases of mixed-infection (0.9%, 8/845). The cases were reported from 26 provinces/municipalities/autonomous regions, with the top 5 provinces including Guangdong (182 cases), Yunnan (136 cases), Sichuan (72 cases), Zhejiang (64 cases) and Henan (59 cases), from which 513 cases (60.7%, 513/845) were reported. A total of 36 severe malaria cases (4.3%, 36/845) and 6 deaths (0.7%, 6/845) were reported. Although there has been no report of indigenous malaria cases in China for six consecutive years, there is still a risk of cluster outbreak of imported malaria and reemerging. After malaria elimination, malaria surveillance and response should be further strengthened, and malaria cases should be detected timely with accurate, diagnosis and standard treatment, so as to reduce the severe cases and deaths and finally prevent the reemerging of malaria transmission.

Key words: Malaria, Epidemiological characteristics, China