CDC Updates Malaria Surveillance Form

The Updated Malaria Case Surveillance Report Form

CDC recently updated its malaria surveillance form to include newly recommended or approved diagnostic tools and medicines for prophylaxis and treatment, as well as patient follow-up information.

Malaria is a reportable disease in the United States and its territories, and so health-care providers should report all cases of laboratory-confirmed malaria occurring in the United States and its territories to their local, state or territorial health department. These reports, which contain epidemiological and clinical information on malaria cases diagnosed in the United States, are then transmitted to CDC through the National Malaria Surveillance System (NMSS).

Form Updates

The following additions are reflected on the new form:

• Patient information – Patient height and weight have been added.
• Malaria diagnosis –The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved commercial malaria rapid diagnostic test (RDT), labeled BinaxNOW Malaria, is listed as one of the methods for diagnosing a malaria infection.
• Malaria prophylaxis – Primaquine, which is now recommended for prevention of malaria when traveling to certain countries such as those in Central America, is listed as one of the options on the form.   
• Malaria treatment – Artemether/lumefantrine (Coartem), an antimalarial drug recently approved by the FDA, has been added as a possible treatment option for malaria.
• Follow-up information –The form now includes a section on patient follow-up information obtained 4 weeks after completion of malaria treatment. This section is intended to help the health-care provider detect potential treatment failures or major side effects associated with treatment, should any occur.

About Coartem

One of the updates on the Malaria Case Surveillance Report Form includes the addition of the drug artemether/lumefantrine, also known as Coartem, to the malaria treatment options.  On April 8, 2009, the FDA approved Coartem tablets for the treatment of uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum malaria infections in adults and children weighing at least five kilograms. Coartem is a fixed-dose oral combination of two antimalarial drugs, artemether—an artemisinin derivative (20 mg) and lumefantrine (120 mg). The 3-day treatment schedule is supplied as a tablet designed for oral administration.  Coartem is not approved for the treatment of severe malaria or for the prevention of malaria infection. Coartem is made by Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation, Basel, Switzerland, and is now available through retail pharmacies and hospitals.

More on Coartem:

• CDC Treatment Guidelines Table (for dosage and administration)
• Novartis
• FDA News Release

Malaria Case Surveillance Report Form

• Updated Malaria Case Surveillance Report Form [PDF, 2 pages, 70 KB]
• Directions for Malaria Case Surveillance Report Form [PDF, 3 pages, 63 KB]
• Mail the completed form to the address at the top of the form or fax it to CDC, Malaria Branch, at 770-488-4465. For more information regarding the malaria surveillance system or for assistance in completing the form, please call the Malaria Branch at 770-488-7788.