Comportamiento epidemiológico de la malaria en el Chocó, Pacífico colombiano

Colombian Pacific is one of the regions with the highest risk of malaria transmission in the country. High rainfall, illegal mining, illicit crops and climatic changes make malaria endemic in the region. objective. To characterize the malaria cases that occurred in the department of Choco during 2016-2018. material and methods. Descriptive, cross-sectional study. Reports of malaria cases from to the Department of Malaria Control program for the years 2016-2018 were obtained from a secondary source. Based on these data, the incidence of the disease was calculated and a sociodemographic analysis was performed. Most of the cases were detected in 2016 (56 000 cases); the year with the lowest number of cases was 2017 with approximately 14 493. The most prevalent species in the region was Plasmodium falciparum. The large number of cases occur in the urban area of Quibdó. Choco continues to be one of the regions of Colombia with the highest transmission of malaria. discussion. Climatic, social and economic factors make malaria endemic in this region. It is important to review the education and prevention strategies around this disease to propose community control strategies that include training in the identification-elimination of mosquito breeding sites and basic knowledge of disease.