Malaria
Every year about 30,000 travellers from industrialised countries catch malaria, one of the world's greatest health problems. Worldwide, between 300 million and 500 million cases occur each year, resulting in about 2 million deaths. Ninety per cent of cases occur in Africa, but the disease is found in 90 different countries, including places such as:
- Papua New Guinea;
- Solomon Islands;
- Central, West and East Africa;
- India; and
- Brazil.
There are 2 vital messages for travellers to these and other places where there is a serious risk of malaria.
The first is to make sure you are taking the correct medication to reduce the risk of acquiring the infection. Various drugs may be recommended, depending upon where you are going. Check that you take the drugs for long enough before arriving in a malarial area and that you take them for long enough after you have left. This is usually for at least 2, and often 4 weeks, depending on the preventive drug used.
The second is to do all you can to avoid being bitten by mosquitoes. This is the way malaria spreads. Even taking anti-malarial drugs exactly as recommended cannot give you 100 per cent protection. Bites can be avoided by:
- staying indoors in the evening, overnight and around dawn;
- wearing long trousers or dresses and long sleeved shirts or blouses;
- not wearing perfumes or colognes;
- using mosquito repellant containing 20 per cent DEET;
- having mosquito sprays handy and using mosquito coils; and
- sleeping under a mosquito net.
The signs and symptoms of malaria vary widely and can mimic many other illnesses. Headaches, muscular pains and nausea are common. Having a fever (raised temperature) is the most common symptom. Malaria must always be suspected when someone who is in, or has recently been in, a malarial area has a fever.
Last Reviewed: 22 May 2002
