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.
Then, if your patient requires treatment for malaria, you can 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
Because malaria is relatively rare in the United States, with an estimated 1,200 cases identified per year, clinicians often need assistance in making the diagnosis and deciding on the treatment.
To that end, the CDC offers malaria publications, diagnostic reference services, and training seminars for laboratory personnel.
“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 Web site features prevention information, with a link to the CDC's travelers' information site. It also features interactive training for recognition of malaria, including a quiz, sample images, and case studies.
“We know there is a need in the United States for better diagnosis,” said Stephanie Johnson, who is a 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.
Health care providers can e-mail images of other suspected parasitic infections to the CDC's Laboratory Identification of Parasites of Public Health Concern program (www.dpd.cdc.gov/dpdx
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's 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.