title: First published record of urban malaria in Puerto Gaitán, Meta, Colombia.
abstract: Patterns of malaria cases were compared between the department of Meta and the municipality of Puerto Gaitán, Colombia, to examine temporal change in malaria from 2005-2010. During this time frame in Meta the mean ratio was 2.53; in contrast, in Puerto Gaitán it was 1.41, meaning that a surprisingly high proportion of Plasmodium falciparum cases were reported from this municipality. A detailed analysis of data from Puerto Gaitán for 2009 and 2010 detected a significant difference (χ2, p < 0.001) in the distribution of plasmodia, with Plasmodium vivax more prevalent in 2009 and P. falciparum in 2010. Males had the highest number of cases but there was no difference in the distribution of cases between sexes and years. In both years, for both sexes, people 16-40 accounted for the majority of cases (58.9% in 2009; 60.4% in 2010). There were significant differences in the distribution of both P. vivax (χ2, p < 0.01) and P. falciparum cases (χ2, p < 0.05) by geographic setting (urban vs. non-urban) between years. Urban cases of both P. vivax and P. falciparum are recorded in this study for the first time in Puerto Gaitán, possibly the result of area wide displacement and migration due to armed conflict.
authors.affiliation: Unidad de Entomología, Secretaría Departamental de Salud del Meta, Colombia, VillavicencioMeta.
authors.forename: Luz Stella
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Buitrago
authors.affiliation: Facultad de Agronomía, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Colombia, Bogotá
authors.forename: Helena Luisa
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Brochero
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Sciences, School of Public Health, State University of New York at Albany, USA, AlbanyNY.
authors.forename: Sascha N
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: McKeon
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Sciences, School of Public Health, State University of New York at Albany, USA, AlbanyNY.
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Lainhart
authors.affiliation: Wadsworth Center, New York State Department of Health, USA, SlingerlandsNY.
authors.forename: Jan E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Conn
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003105:Colombia / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D016778:Malaria, Falciparum / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016780:Malaria, Vivax / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008297:Male; D010963:Plasmodium falciparum; D010966:Plasmodium vivax; D015995:Prevalence; D012621:Seasons; D014504:Urban Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D055815:Young Adult