Description
GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT MALARIA PREVENTION
ABCD to preventing Malaria
- A wareness of risk of malaria.
- B ite prevention.
- C hemoprophylaxis (taking antimalarial medication exactly as prescribed).
- D iagnosis and treatment of any malaria symptoms.
Awareness of Malaria Risks
To check whether you need to take preventative malaria treatment for the countries you are visiting, see the Fit for Travel or the National Travel Health Network and Centre (NaTHNaC) websites.
Preventing Bites
It is not possible to avoid mosquito bites completely but the less you are bitten, the less likely you are to get malaria.
To avoid being bitten:
- Stay somewhere that has effective air conditioning and screening on doors and windows. If this is not possible, make sure that doors and windows close properly.
- If you are not sleeping in an air-conditioned room, sleep under an intact mosquito net that has been treated with insecticide.
- Use insect repellent on your skin and in sleeping environments. Remember to re-apply it frequently. The most effective repellents contain diethyltoluamide (DEET) and are available in sprays, roll-ons, sticks and creams.
- Wear light, loose-fitting trousers, rather than shorts, and shirts with long sleeves. This is particularly important during early evening and at night when mosquitoes prefer to feed.
- Garlic, vitamin B and ultrasound devices do not prevent mosquito bites from occurring.
Anti Malarial Medication
Taking medicine to prevent getting malaria is essential if you are visiting areas where there is a risk of malaria. However, antimalarials are not 100% effective so taking steps to avoid bites is also important.
When taking antimalarial medication:
- Make sure you get the right antimalarial tablets before you go (by visiting Fit for Travel ).
- Follow the instructions included with your tablets carefully.
- It is important that you continue to take your tablets after returning from your trip (to cover the incubation period of the disease).
- Most antimalarial tablets need to be taken for four weeks after you return, although atovaquone plus proguanil needs to only be taken for one week.
Symptoms of malaria (to help with prompt diagnosis)
Symptoms are similar to flu. They include fever, shivers, sweating, backache, joint pains, headache, vomiting, diarrhoea and sometimes delirium. These symptoms may take a week or more to develop after you have been bitten by a mosquito. Occasionally, it takes a year for symptoms to develop.
This means that you should suspect malaria in anyone with a feverish illness who has travelled to a malaria-risk area within the past year, especially in the previous three months.
If you experience any flu-like symptoms after returning you should seek immediate medical attention and tell the doctor about your background and recent travel history.
