Imported malaria: Six cases of severe Plasmodium falciparum infection in Innsbruck, Austria, within a period of five weeks (February/March 1999)

Six patients (age, 30-76; 3 male, 3 female) with severe malaria tropica wer e admitted to the Department of Internal Medicine of the Innsbruck Universi ty Hospital within a time period of five weeks. All patients had recently v isited classical malaria regions some days before admission: five patients the sub-Saharan Africa and one patient Thailand and Vietnam. All six patien ts had to be treated in the Intensive Care Unit. Three patients developed a n acute respiratory distress syndrome. Two patients died of multi-organ fai lure. All six patients were treated with quinine and doxycycline intravenou sly. In one case, exchange transfusion was performed. Only two of six patie nts had taken prophylactic medication: one patient chloroquine and proguani l and the other mefloquine (she suffered from a severe gastroenteritis duri ng the journey).