Abstract
At short notice, a comprehensive malaria prevention program was organized for 2387 contract seismic workers who were to work in a natural gas exploration area of East Kalimantan where the malaria mosquito vector was proven to exist. The program was conducted from May 1992 until January 1993.
The program was instituted to prevent introduction of new strains of malaria from elsewhere in Indonesia into the East Kalimantan area and also to maintain work productivity.
The preventive measures undertaken included the pre-employment screening of all contractors for asymptomatic malaria carrier status, behavioral modification, the use of mosquito repellents, the use of permethrin impregnated bed nets and tents, the use of preventive chloroquine medication, and a program for early fever detection followed by empiric treatment using chinine sulfate.
At prescreening, 19 people were identified as asymptomatic carriers of malaria. During the program 7 new cases of malaria were detected in the field yielding a cumulative incidence of 2.9 cases per thousand contractors (95% C.1. 0.75 - 5.05‰).
This multi-intervention program showed a promising result in preventing malaria in a specific occupational setting. However, further studies are still needed.
