Resumen

CARMONA-FONSECA, Jaime. The Region “Urabá Antioqueño-Cuencas altas de los ríos Sinú and San Jorge-Bajo Cauca Antioqueño”: “shelter” of Colombian malaria. Rev. Univ. Ind. Santander. Salud [online]. 2017, vol.49, n.4, pp.577-589. ISSN 0121-0807.  https://doi.org/10.18273/revsal.v49n4-2017007.

In the zone formed by Urabá Antioqueño-Cuencas altas de los ríos Sinú and San Jorge-Bajo Cauca Antioqueño (hereinafter, the Region), 60% of the Colombian cases of malaria are described. The Region is not specifically addressed in official reports and even malaria researchers do not refer to it precisely. The objective of this review is to argumentatively describe what is the Region. This is a theoretical descriptive study, which proposes that the Region should be conformed by 25 municipalities, 21 that are usually included in Bajo Cauca and four additional municipalities of Antioquia (Valdivia, Anorí, Remedios and Segovia), as they have the same ecological and epidemiological conditions and similar levels of malaria endemia. The “new” Region is integrated by 11 municipalities in the Urabá Antioqueño, 4 in the south of Cordoba, and 10 in the Bajo Cauca Antioqueño. The “new” Region has 34,848 km2 and 1,339,297 inhabitants (2015). Furthermore, the Region has large plains and at least four levels of rainfall intensity. Transmission is stable, with no marked fluctuations in the number of malaria cases during the year. Since 1950-1959, the Region has exhibited a high malaria incidence (annual parasitic index >25 per 1,000 exposed) and predominance of P. vivax (60-70% of the total). There 19 species of Anopheles in the Region. It is concluded that there are abundant and solid ecological and epidemiological arguments to propose that the Region would include the 25 municipalities mentioned before, and that the Colombian health authorities should provide periodic information about it.

Palabras clave : Malaria; Plasmodium; epidemiology; Colombia.

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