Adult Javanese migrants to Indonesian Papua at high risk of severe disease caused by malaria.
Migrants from Java arrive in hyperendemic Papua, Indonesia lacking exposure to endemic malaria. We evaluated records of evacuation to hospital with a diagnosis of severe malaria from a transmigration village in northeastern Papua. During the first 30 months, 198 residents with severe disease were evacuated (7.5 evacuations/100 person-years). During this period the risk of evacuation for adults (> 15 years of age) was 2.8. (95% CI = 2.1-3.8; P < 0.0001) relative to children, despite apparently equal exposure to risk of infection. Relative risk (RR) for adults was greatest during the first 6 months (RR > 16; 95% CI > or = 2.0-129; P = 0.0009), and diminished during the second 6 months (RR = 9.4; 95% CI = 2.7-32.8; P < 0.0001) and the third 6 months (RR = 3.7; 95% CI = 1.7-7.9; P = 0.0004). During the next two 6-month intervals, the RR for adults was 1.6 and 1.5 (95 % CI range 0.8-2.6; P < 0.18). Adults lacking chronic exposure were far more likely to progress to severe disease compared to children during initial exposure, but not after chronic exposure to infection.
Baird
J K
JK
U.S. Naval Medical Research Unit #2, Jakarta, Indonesia.
Basri
H
H
Weina
P
P
MaGuire
J D
JD
Barcus
M J
MJ
Picarema
H
H
Elyazar
I R F
IR
Ayomi
E
E
Sekartuti
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D018450:Disease Progression; D004641:Emigration and Immigration; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007214:Indonesia / Q000208:ethnology; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008288:Malaria / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000208:ethnology / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010219:Papua New Guinea / Q000453:epidemiology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012720:Severity of Illness Index