Philippine Malaria / Mosquito Map / Dengue Fever Map

[KeithD]

I heard on the news the other day that more people are coming back to the UK with malaria than ever before. As with any media stats though they need to be taken in context.

For instance a rise in something of say 100%, may mean that it was previously 1 in 10,000 of the popualtion and is now 2. The first one the media use because it is alarming, the second stats are the same but give the real picture.

[Doc Alan]

I heard on the news the other day that more people are coming back to the UK with malaria than ever before.

It was once endemic in Europe. The UK had 1761 imported cases of falciparum malaria in 2010, according to the Health Protection Agency. These were mostly from West Africa or South Asia ( not from the Philippines). In 2008 there were 1,370 reported cases, an increase of nearly 30%. The fatality rate is low, less than 1%.
However, stated as an increase from 1/48,000 to 1/37,000 out of an estimated 66 million visits abroad by UK residents it doesn't sound quite so dramatic!