Italian Girl in Critical Condition with Malaria After Trip to Africa

A serious case of malaria has been reported in Italy in a twelve-year-old girl who returned from a trip to Africa. The child, a resident of Chioggia in the Veneto region, was transferred on Sunday from a local hospital to a larger center in Padua, where a severe form of the disease was diagnosed. Her condition is serious. For several days prior to hospital admission, the girl had complained of high fever, nausea, and vomiting. All sources indicate the infection occurred during her stay abroad, classifying the case as so-called imported malaria. Experts are reassuring the public, emphasizing there is no basis for declaring an epidemiological alarm. Massimo Ciccozzi, an epidemiologist from the University of Rome "Campus Bio-Medico," explained that malaria in Italy is „almost exclusively an imported disease„. This means infections occur abroad, not within the country's territory, due to the lack of local, stable transmission foci. A similar tone was adopted by Matteo Bassetti, director of the infectious diseases department at San Martino Hospital in Genoa, who noted that the case poses no threat to the local community. In his view, appropriate traveler prophylaxis for those heading to at-risk regions is crucial.Malaria, also known as ague, has been one of humanity's greatest plagues for centuries. Its traces have been found in records from ancient Egypt and China. For centuries, it was associated with „bad air„ (mal aria) from swampy areas. A breakthrough in understanding the disease came in 1880 when French military doctor Charles Laveran first observed the parasite (Plasmodium) in a patient's blood. In 1897, British doctor Ronald Ross proved that the disease is transmitted by mosquitoes of the genus Anopheles, for which he received the Nobel Prize in 1902. The case of the Italian girl highlights the inadequate preparation of some tourists for travel to tropical regions. Bassetti appealed for caution and consultation with a travel medicine doctor before planning a trip, especially to Sub-Saharan African countries where the risk of infection is highest. Experts recommend using repellents, mosquito nets, and, where justified, taking prophylactic drugs. It is estimated that over 200 million cases of malaria are recorded worldwide annually, with hundreds of thousands ending in death, mainly among children under five in Africa. The case from Padua is therefore an isolated incident in Italy but serves as an important reminder of the global reach and significance of this disease.