Malaria Prevention
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Malaria is a deadly illness that’s spread through mosquito bites and can cause symptoms like fever, vomiting and diarrhea.
Taking antimalarial treatments when you travel can provide effective protection from malaria. Order malaria prevention treatments online with us and get expert help and advice.
When an infected mosquito bites you, it can pass a parasite onto you. There are five parasites that can cause malaria, but most cases are caused by just two: Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax .
After a bite from an infected mosquito, the Plasmodium parasites use your bloodstream to go into your liver. Once there, they grow and mature until they’re ready to reproduce. Then they return to your bloodstream where they infect your red blood cells and multiply. Every two or three days the infected blood cells burst, releasing more parasites into your bloodstream to repeat the cycle.
Most people with malaria get better if they’re diagnosed and treated early. Malaria can be fatal without treatment, and approximately 86% of people worldwide who die from malaria are younger than five years old.
There are treatments that prevent malaria when taken prophylactically (preemptively). People who travel to places where malaria is endemic often take these drugs. When taken as directed by your clinician, malaria prevention treatments should keep you from getting malaria even if you get bitten by an infected mosquito.
Anopheles mosquitoes transmit malaria in over 100 countries across the world. Anyone who travels to an area with active malaria transmission should consider using preventive treatment. These areas often include countries in Africa, parts of the Middle East, and Central and South America.
Preventing malaria is easier than treating it. If you’re planning to travel internationally, you can use the FitForTravel and the CDC Malaria Database to see if there’s malaria transmission where you’re going, and make sure you speak to a doctor to get a prescription for antimalarial treatment before you go.
Despite increasing efforts to limit the spread of malaria, it still remains a common infection.
The World Health Organization estimates that in India, about 15 million people get malaria each year and sadly, around 19,500 to 20,000 of them die because of it.
About 229 million people were infected with malaria in 2019, and 409,000 of them died. Some areas have much higher rates of transmission than others. Malaria infections in African countries account for 94% of cases worldwide.
How we source info.
When we present you with stats, data, opinion or a consensus, we’ll tell you where this came from. And we’ll only present data as clinically reliable if it’s come from a reputable source, such as a state or government-funded health body, a peer-reviewed medical journal, or a recognised analytics or data body. Read more in our editorial policy
Malaria is caused by being bitten by an Anopheles mosquito that has been infected with Plasmodium parasites. Once you’ve been bitten, the parasite travels to your liver to mature and release merozoites, which are a different form of the parasite.
These merozoites enter your bloodstream, where they infect and destroy red blood cells . As malaria progresses, the symptoms can become more severe.
Shortly after infection, there aren’t that many symptoms of malaria. In fact, it can lie dormant for weeks or months. In some very rare cases, it can be years before you start noticing any strong symptoms. When someone becomes symptomatic, they can experience:
The earliest someone might experience symptoms is around 10 days after a mosquito bit them.
Untreated malaria can be fatal, or at least lead to serious complications. Without treatment, you could develop: pulmonary edema, cerebral malaria, kidney failure, bleeding or severe anemia.
How we source info.
When we present you with stats, data, opinion or a consensus, we’ll tell you where this came from. And we’ll only present data as clinically reliable if it’s come from a reputable source, such as a state or government-funded health body, a peer-reviewed medical journal, or a recognised analytics or data body. Read more in our editorial policy
There are a range of options available to prevent malaria, such as Malarone (atovaquone/proguanil), Lariam (Mefloquine) and Doxycycline. Each option has different active ingredients. Different treatments might work better for some strains of malaria than others. Depending on drug resistance and which parasite is transmitted in a given area, our doctor should be able to prescribe a specific treatment for you.
A variety of factors will determine which treatment could be best for you to avoid getting malaria. Your personal health history, as well as specific details about the strain and severity of malaria that’s transmitted where you’re going will help our doctors to prescribe the right medication.
Different treatments have different lengths and methods of treatment. People who take doxycycline to prevent malaria can begin treatment a day or two before they travel. However people who take mefloquin should begin taking the course of medication at least one week before going to a country where malaria is common. Take it once a week while you're there, and keep taking it for four weeks after you've left the area with malaria risk. .
Any time that you travel to a place with active malaria transmission, you’ll need malaria prevention drugs. You should still take steps to avoid mosquito bites if you’re taking prophylactic treatments. Using bug spray, mosquito nets, and clothing that covers your arms and legs will help to prevent uncomfortable mosquito bites.
How we source info.
When we present you with stats, data, opinion or a consensus, we’ll tell you where this came from. And we’ll only present data as clinically reliable if it’s come from a reputable source, such as a state or government-funded health body, a peer-reviewed medical journal, or a recognised analytics or data body. Read more in our editorial policy
Have something specific you want to know about Malaria Prevention? Search our info below, or ask our experts a question if you can’t find what you’re looking for.
World Health Organization (2021). Malaria. [online]
Burden of Malaria in India: Retrospective and Prospective View. In: Breman JG, Alilio MS, White NJ, editors. Defining and Defeating the Intolerable Burden of Malaria III: Progress and Perspectives: Supplement to Volume 77(6) of American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. Northbrook (IL): American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene; 2007 Dec.
MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia. [online]
Malaria in Children. Mediterranean Journal of Hematology and Infectious Diseases,
Severe long-delayed malaria caused by Plasmodium malariae in an elderly French patient. Malaria Journal, 20(1).
CDC - Malaria - About Malaria - FAQs. [online] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Clinical review: Severe Malaria. Critical Care, [online] 7(4), p.315.
CDC - Malaria - Travelers - Choosing a Drug to Prevent Malaria. [online]
World Health Organisation (2019). Malaria. [online]
CDC - Malaria - About Malaria - Where Malaria Occurs. [online]
One-a-day capsules to prevent malaria before your travels. Start taking them two days before travel and for four weeks after.
Proven and widely used medication to prevent malaria when you are traveling to a high-risk place.
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