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Malaria is a deadly illness thatโs spread through mosquito bites that can cause symptoms like fever, vomiting and diarrhoea.ย
Taking antimalarial treatments when you travel can provide effective protection from malaria. Order malaria prevention treatments online with Treated and get expert help and advice.
Works in most malarious regions. Once daily tablet you start 2 days before travel.
Like Malarone, but doesn't need a prescription. Start two days before you enter a malaria risk zone.
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Malaria. Who.int. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/malaria
Malaria: MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia.ย https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/000621.htm
Malaria in Children. Mediterranean Journal of Hematology and Infectious Diseases, 4(1). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3507524/
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 .ย
The vast majority of malaria cases occur in Africa. Only 6% of cases occur in countries on other continents . 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 theyโre 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 .ย
Most people with malaria get better if theyโre 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 (pre-emptively). 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.ย
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 youโre planning to travel internationally, you can use the FitForTravel and the CDC Malaria Database
to see if thereโs malaria transmission where youโre going, and make sure you speak to a clinician 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.
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 .ย
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Malaria is caused by being bitten by an Anopheles mosquito that has been infected with Plasmodium parasites. Once youโve 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.ย
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Shortly after infection, there arenโt 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 .
Malaria: MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia. https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/000621.htm
Malaria in Children. Mediterranean Journal of Hematology and Infectious Diseases, 4(1).ย https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3507524/
Severe long-delayed malaria caused by Plasmodium malariae in an elderly French patient. Malaria Journal, 20(1).
CDC - Malaria - About Malaria - FAQs. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.ย https://www.cdc.gov/malaria/about/faqs.html
Clinical review: Severe Malaria. Critical Care, 7(4), p.315.ย https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC270697/
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 clinician should be able to prescribe a specific treatment for you.ย
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 thatโs transmitted where youโre going will help our clinician to prescribe the right medication.ย
Different treatments have different lengths and methods of treatment. People who take atovaquone/proguanil hydrochloride, doxycycline and primaquine to prevent malaria can begin treatment a day or two before they travel. However people who take Paludrine/Avloclor and Lariam will need to start one or two weeks before they depart . The biggest difference between these treatments is how long youโll have to carry on taking them for once youโve returned.ย
Some drugs, like Malarone and Primaquine, only need to be taken for seven days after you get home. Whereas Doxycycline, Paludrine/Avloclor and Lariam still have to be taken for another four weeks once youโve got back .
Any time that you travel to a place with active malaria transmission, youโll need malaria prevention drugs. You should still take steps to avoid mosquito bites if youโre taking prophylactic treatments. Using bug spray, mosquito nets, and clothing that covers your arms and legs will help to prevent uncomfortable mosquito bites.ย
CDC - Malaria - About Malaria - Where Malaria Occurs
CDC - Malaria - Travelers - Choosing a Drug to Prevent Malaria.ย https://www.cdc.gov/malaria/travelers/drugs.html
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