[Estimation of the underreporting of malaria measurement in ten municipalities of the Pacific coast of Nariño during 2009]. / Estimación del subregistro de casos de paludismo en diez municipios de la costa del Pacífico nariñense durante 2009.

INTRODUCTION: The complete and effective collection of data of malaria cases is essential to formulate operative plans, as well as to develop and apply policies for its prevention and control. However, in Colombia, not all of the identified cases are notified nor incorporated into the surveillance system. This underreport represents a serious problem for decision makers. OBJECTIVE: To estimate the type and quantity of errors made during the completion of the malaria individual case reporting form and its digitization level, through the use and monitoring of the reporting form in ten municipalities of Nariño in 2009. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A descriptive cross-sectional study with a non-probabilistic and convenience sample of diagnosis and treatment sites was carried out. Copies of the reporting forms from these sites and of the Public Health Surveillance System database were taken to compare them case-by-case. Proportions were calculated. RESULTS: In more than 60% of the 2,816 reporting forms of positive cases the information about municipality of residence, municipality of origin and occupation was not reported. The case-by-case comparison revealed that 845 (30.0%) notification forms were not digitized at all. Information of variables such as residence, name of the municipality, and date of onset of symptoms were neither complete nor exact in more than 50% of the cases. CONCLUSIONS: The use of copies of the reporting forms allows knowing the underreporting due to lack of digitization. One third of the cases can be recovered.

Estimación del subregistro de casos de paludismo en diez municipios de la costa del Pacífico nariñense durante 2009 / Estimation of the underreporting of malaria measurement in ten municipalities of the Pacific coast of Nariño during 2009

Introducción. La recolección de información completa y efectiva de los casos de paludismo es fundamental para elaborar planes operativos, así como para el desarrollo y la aplicación de las políticas de prevención y control. Sin embargo, no todos los casos identificados son notificados y no todos son incorporados en el sistema de información. El subregistro representa un problema para quienes toman las decisiones. Objetivo. Estimar el tipo y la cantidad de errores cometidos al llenar la ficha de notificación de los casos de paludismo y su nivel de digitación, mediante el uso y seguimiento de la ficha de notificación en diez municipios nariñenses durante 2009. Materiales y métodos. Se trata de un estudio descriptivo, transversal en muestra no probabilística, de conveniencia, de los puestos de diagnóstico y tratamiento. Se obtuvieron copias de la fichas y de la base de datos de la notificación del sistema de vigilancia y se compararon caso a caso. Se calcularon las proporciones. Resultados. De 2.816 fichas de notificación de casos positivos, se evidenció que en más de 60 % de los casos no se reportó la información de las variables municipio de residencia, municipio de origen y código de ocupación. En la comparación caso a caso se encontró que 845 (30,0 %) fichas no habían sido digitadas. La información de variables como el nombre del municipio de residencia y la fecha del inicio de síntomas, no fue completa ni exacta en más de 50 % de los casos. Conclusiones. El empleo de las fichas de notificación con copia permite conocer el subregistro de la notificación debida a la falta de digitación. Una tercera parte de los casos pueden ser recuperados.

Introduction. The complete and effective collection of data of malaria cases is essential to formulate operative plans, as well as to develop and apply policies for its prevention and control. However, in Colombia, not all of the identified cases are notified nor incorporated into the surveillance system. This underreport represents a serious problem for decision makers. Objective. To estimate the type and quantity of errors made during the completion of the malaria individual case reporting form and its digitization level, through the use and monitoring of the reporting form in ten municipalities of Nariño in 2009. Materials and methods. A descriptive cross-sectional study with a non-probabilistic and convenience sample of diagnosis and treatment sites was carried out. Copies of the reporting forms from these sites and of the Public Health Surveillance System database were taken to compare them case-by-case. Proportions were calculated. Results. In more than 60% of the 2,816 reporting forms of positive cases the information about municipality of residence, municipality of origin and occupation was not reported. The case-by-case comparison revealed that 845 (30.0%) notification forms were not digitized at all. Information of variables such as residence, name of the municipality, and date of onset of symptoms were neither complete nor exact in more than 50% of the cases. Conclusions. The use of copies of the reporting forms allows knowing the underreporting due to lack of digitization. One third of the cases can be recovered.

Prospects for malaria elimination in non-Amazonian regions of Latin America.

Latin America contributes 1-1.2 million clinical malaria cases to the global malaria burden of about 300 million per year. In 21 malaria endemic countries, the population at risk in this region represents less than 10% of the total population exposed worldwide. Factors such as rapid deforestation, inadequate agricultural practices, climate change, political instability, and both increasing parasite drug resistance and vector resistance to insecticides contribute to malaria transmission. Recently, several malaria endemic countries have experienced a significant reduction in numbers of malaria cases. This is most likely due to actions taken by National Malaria Control Programs (NMCP) with the support from international funding agencies. We describe here the research strategies and activities to be undertaken by the Centro Latino Americano de Investigación en Malaria (CLAIM), a new research center established for the non-Amazonian region of Latin America by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). Throughout a network of countries in the region, initially including Colombia, Guatemala, Panama, and Peru, CLAIM will address major gaps in our understanding of changing malaria epidemiology, vector biology and control, and clinical malaria mainly due to Plasmodium vivax. In close partnership with NMCPs, CLAIM seeks to conduct research on how and why malaria is decreasing in many countries of the region as a basis for developing and implementing new strategies that will accelerate malaria elimination.