DR Cindy Pan explains when its necessary for travellers to take medication to prevent malaria.
* Question: My teenager is planning a big overseas trip involving Africa, South America and South-East Asia and our GP has recommended medication for malaria prevention. Is this really necessary? What other measures can be used to prevent infection and how would you know if you had malaria anyway?
-- Answer: Unfortunately malaria is still a significant problem in many parts of the world, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, some parts of Asia and Latin America and even some parts of the Middle East and Europe. Travellers from non-endemic areas such as Australia are at high risk of infection if they travel to affected areas as they have no immunity.
The main ways to decrease the risk of infection are to take medication – antimalarials – as your GP recommended and to protect yourself against mosquito bites, since the disease is transmitted through the Anopheles mosquito’s bite.
Protective measures may include using insect repellent, wearing protective clothing, using insecticide-impregnated nets and screens on windows and doors, and not going outdoors at night.
Even if antimalarial medication is taken, you can still contract the disease if you are bitten a lot so it is important to take preventive measures.
Malaria symptoms usually come on any time from seven to 15 days following transmission but they can be delayed for up to a year after infection. Symptoms typically occur in cycles of 48 to 72 hours.
The initial symptoms may be mild or non-specific, such as fever, headache, chills or vomiting. Other symptoms may include nausea, sweating, muscle pain, bloody stools, jaundice, convulsions and coma. If you think you have malaria, get urgent medical attention. The more severe form, falciparum malaria, can cause death within 24 hours if left untreated.
More than a million people die of malaria every year. Some travellers don’t take precautions and they pay a hefty price.
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Originally published as Ask the doc: malaria prevention