This study was funded by an investigator

initiated unrestricted grant from Sanofi-Pasteur. C. L. is an employee of Sanofi-Pasteur. J. T. has received a speaking honoraria from Sanofi-Pasteur. The other authors state they have no conflicts of interest to declare. “
“Although exact incidence data of imported GSK126 malaria in children are not available, results of a recent GeoSentinel study on pediatric travel-associated morbidity showed that malaria is the single most frequent specific etiologic diagnosis affecting 8% of ill children who present post-travel.1 An international analysis of more than 12,000 imported pediatric malaria cases in industrialized countries showed that children account for approximately 15%–20% of all imported cases worldwide2 and that infections with

Plasmodium falciparum, acquired in West Africa predominate with the highest worldwide selleck chemicals rate of importation in the immigrant community from the Comoros Islands, settled in France.2 Pediatric travelers visiting friends and relatives (VFR) followed by children who travel for immigration account for most cases. Infections with Plasmodium vivax have been mainly described in children returning from Asia and the Americas. The proportion and importance of the respective Plasmodium species responsible for clinical cases varies between and within countries, and is a reflection of the settled immigrant communities.2,3 In the United States, as in other industrialized countries, malaria cases cluster in areas where such immigrant communities have predominantly settled, most commonly in certain neighborhoods of major urban centers.4 Children who travel for tourism appear at less risk of acquiring malaria. In the travel medicine literature5

as well as at the professional society level,6 much attention has been previously given to increase the awareness of the importance of migrant-related VFR travel. To a lesser degree, and only recently, has the focus of investigations been directed specifically to children of migrant families traveling internationally Fluorouracil datasheet or pediatric VFR travelers. This is a generation of children, mostly born in the industrialized countries of immigration, who frequently travel internationally to either visit during school holidays or often to live for extended periods with family members in the parent’s country of origin. This most important target group is the bull’s eye of travelers’ malaria that is currently missed in travel medicine. The studies by Venturini and colleagues7 and Hickey and colleagues8 in the current issue of the journal are, thus, valuable contributions.