A recent study found that Malaria is the number one travel disease for Americans. Despite being eradicated from the U.S. the disease still exists in other countries and at least 1,500 Americans contract it each year.
It’s estimated that number is actually closer to 2,100 since some people do not seek treatment. The study’s co-author Diana Khuu, PhD, MPH, a scientist at the University of California, Los Angeles explained that most of those cases are totally preventable.
“It appears more and more Americans are traveling to areas where malaria is common and many of them are not taking preventive measures, such as using anti-malarial preventive medications and mosquito repellents, even though they are very effective at preventing infections.”
Of course, the more people that bring Malaria back to the U.S., the more likely that it could start spreading in the U.S. as well.
