The US–Mexico border, migration crisis, and falciparum malaria

According to data from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees of Mexico, 76 853 people born in Haiti, Honduras, Cuba, and Venezuela requested asylum in Mexico during the first half of 2023.1 Concomitantly, an undetermined number of people without documentation entered Mexico from African and Asian countries. A related event that encouraged the high flow of migrants was the suspension of freight train activities known as La Bestia on Sept 20, 2023, that concur with an increase in the migrant population in the bus station and, therefore, a rise in the need for medical care. Regarding treatment, the latest clinical practice guidelines in Mexico recommend that the administration of antimalarial drugs is indicated only in patients with parasitological confirmation by thick blood smear or rapid diagnostic test to ensure a diagnosis within 48 h after the onset of symptoms.2 This is in discordance with WHO recommendations that suggest making a diagnosis within the first 2 h of the initial assessment to start empiric treatment when parasitological diagnosis is not possible.3 The large increase of malaria in a non-endemic region forces the medical community and health authorities of our country, as well as the increasing number of countries with high migratory flow, to provide technical assistance in local diagnostic laboratories to establish strategies for the detection of active malaria infections and expedite treatment by eliminating administrative barriers to comply with the guidelines set by WHO.