MIAMI BEACH, FLA. — Want to confirm a suspected case of malaria?
You can e-mail a digital image to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for telediagnosis, and if necessary download guidelines for treatment from its new malaria Web site, Phuc Nguyen-Dinh, M.D., said at the annual meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine & Hygiene.
In less than 1 year, the CDC's online malaria initiative (www.cdc.gov/malaria
“Now information is downloadable from the Web site. We believe it is more accurate to print the guidelines than to get information over the telephone. Plus, with the Web site we can update the information as needed,” said Dr. Nguyen-Dinh, medical officer in the division of parasitic diseases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta.
The response to the Web site has been positive, Dr. Nguyen-Dinh said. The clinical guidelines are especially useful, according to 430 physicians surveyed through the Infectious Diseases Society of America's Emerging Infections Network. The site features prevention information with a link to the CDC's travelers' information site. It also features interactive training for recognition of malaria.
“We know there is a need in the United States for better diagnosis,” said Stephanie Johnson, MBA, CDC researcher in the Division of Parasitic Diseases. In 2002–2003, the CDC received 188 requests for telediagnosis, of which 79 were for suspected malaria. If the telediagnosis is malaria, the CDC requests the sender submit samples for verification.
Images of other suspected parasitic infections can be e-mailed to the CDC's Laboratory Identification of Parasites of Public Health Concern program (www.dpd.cdc.gov/dpdx
The CDC malaria hotline, 770–488-7788, operates Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. EST; the after-hours emergency number is 770-488-7100.