Interdisciplinary Malaria Prevention And Care in Travelers

The global malaria burden has seen a resurgence, and in Belgium, it remains a public health issue as a leading and life-threatening cause of febrile illness among travelers to endemic areas. Driven by intensified global travel and climate change, travel-related and airport malaria increased significantly over the past decade. Simultaneously, parasite resistance has contributed to more frequent treatment failures in travelers, and therefore more complex therapeutic decisions. To reduce malaria morbidity and mortality in travelers, be-IMPACT will optimize prevention, clinical management, and surveillance efforts by qualitatively and quantitatively investigating the risk- and health seeking behaviour among at-risk travelers, updating and harmonizing clinical guidance in Belgian hospitals and travel clinics, and initiating national malaria molecular surveillance to monitor resistance and trace origin of autochthonous - and imported cases. Data will be collected using patient surveys in the health facilities where care is harmonized, as well as State-of-the-Art whole genome sequencing, in vitro drug susceptibility assays and machine learning tools to analyze parasite genomes of clinical isolates. Novel evidence will be communicated to clinicians and stakeholders through newsletters and workshops that aim to address current gaps in prevention, care and surveillance of travel-related malaria in Belgium.