Hospitalization and ambulatory care in imported-malaria: evaluation of trends and impact on mortality. A prospective multicentric 14-year observational study

BACKGROUND: Hospitalization is usually recommended for imported malaria. The goal of the present study is to evaluate the evolution in clinical pathways while measuring their impact on mortality. METHODS: This is a 14-year prospective observational study divided into three periods. We evaluated for adult (≥15 years) and paediatric (<15 years) case trends in severity, clinical pathways (hospitalization in medical ward (MW) or intensive care unit (ICU), ambulatory care) and mortality. RESULTS: In total, 21,386 imported malaria cases were included, 4269 of them were paediatrics (20 %). Rises in severe forms for adults [from 8 % in period 1–14 % in period 3 (p = 0.0001)] and paediatrics [from 12 to 18 % (p < 0.0001)] were found. For adults, MW admission rates decreased [−15 % (CI 95 % −17; −13)] while ambulatory care [+7 % (CI 95 % 5–9)] and ICU admission rates [+4 % (CI 95 % 3–5)] increased. For paediatrics, increase in ICU admissions (+3 %) was shown. We did not observe any change in overall mortality during the study periods, whether among adults or children, regardless of care pathway. CONCLUSIONS: The present study indicates a changing management of imported malaria in adults, with an increasing trend for ambulatory care. The absence of change in mortality for adults indicates that ambulatory care can be proposed for adults presenting non-severe imported malaria. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12936-016-1364-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.