Post-arrival screening for malaria in asymptomatic refugees using real-time PCR.

Malaria is a significant health risk to refugee populations originating from endemic areas, but there is little consensus on screening and/or treatment approaches for malaria in this population. Furthermore, detection of malaria in semi-immune asymptomatic refugees is limited by the sensitivity of diagnostic tests used for screening. We determined the prevalence of malaria by microscopy and real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in a consecutive population of 324 asymptomatic refugees examined in Edmonton, Canada, during 2009-2010.