Malaria Risk
Recommendations for UK residents travelling to endemic areas reflect the guidelines agreed by UK Malaria specialists.
Our main reference book is The British National formulary. This formulary is updated annually by the British medical association and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain. It must be remembered that prophylaxis is not absolute and breakthrough infection can happen with any of the Antimalarials recommended.
Use the map below to determine the malaria risk and appropriate medication for your destination
Protecting yourself against bites is extremely important as no antimalarial is 100% effective. If you don’t get bitten you don’t get malaria... But remember you don’t always know you have been bitten.
- There are repellents available to spray on clothes even wrist and ankle bands that come impregnated with DEET.
- Protect your room by spraying it when you return.
- Mosquito nets impregnated with Permethrin are effective.
- Coils, mats and vaporized insecticides (diethyltoluamide (DEET)) are safe and effective but only last for a few hours before reapplication is necessary.
- A minimum of 30% DEET content will last for up to 2hours. A 50% DEET application lasts up to 6hours. Reapply after swimming and after sunscreen application.
- It is also advisable to wear long sleeve and trousers after dusk and before dawn as this is when the mosquitoes like to feed.
- If any flu like symptoms occurs within the first three months of return your doctor should be consulted immediately. In some cases symptoms may appear up to 1 year after exposure.
There are a variety of Antimalarial tablets to choose from depending on where you are going and the resistance of the malaria parasite to the antimalarial.
It is extremely important to select the right drug for your destination. Your Pharmacist will be able to advise you.
Some antimalarials required a prescription from your doctor, for example MALARONE, LARIUM and DOXYXYCLINE and are marmed POM in our online store. Others like CHLOROQUINE and PALUDRINE are only available from Pharmacies such as Globetrotter.
It is also extremely important to take the Antimalarials as directed even after you come back as some of the tablets act at different stages of the malaria lifecycle.
Those travellers that have died in the UK from malaria are most often people that did not take tablets or did not complete the course after their return.
What tablets are required for your destination?
Use the map above to check the malaria risk in the countries you are visiting and the recommended Antimalarials.
Remember that if you are going on a cruise and disembarking into a malaria-risk area prophylaxis is still required.
If you are going to different risk areas the tablets recommended for the highest risk area are the ones to take.
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