How to avoid malaria when travelling
The biggest killer in sub-Saharan Africa and in many other places in the world, way ahead of AIDS or famine, is malaria. Without wanting to be sensationalist, it kills a child in Africa every 30 seconds, Africa accounts for 90% of deaths from it as it is home to the most deadly form and it is responsible for 20% of the deaths of under 5s and 10% of all deaths in Africa. South Africa included football fans.
Cheryl Cole (or Tweedy or whatever she’s called these days) and her problems will hopefully place something of a spotlight on malaria and help reduce the incidence of this preventable disease – I know, most diseases are preventable one way or another, but this one can really be prevented cheaply.
So what is malaria?
We know that malaria is caused by a mosquito bite. The parasite enters the blood stream and can be in the liver within 30 minutes. The parasite then starts reproducing and gets into the blood stream and the blood cells where it reproduces again. The infected blood cells then burst which affects the healthy ones….well, you get the picture.
So we’ve established that it can be pretty dangerous and you really don’t want to get it. If you go on a gap year, sabbatical or just on holiday, there are some simple and let’s face it, sensible things you can do to avoid coming a cropper like poor old Cheryl did.
Check where you’re going and get protected
Malaria is endemic across most of Africa and particularly Sub-Saharan Africa, parts of South America, the Indian sub-continent and South-East Asia. If you’re going to any of those places get down to your doctor’s surgery well before you go and get some malaria pills. Otherwise, there’s plenty of travel centres, clinics or consultancies you could visit. If you’re in Devon for example, go to the Travel Health Consultancy in Exeter.
Take the pills
You should take them before you go AND after you come back, just like antibiotics. The parasite can remain dormant in you for quite a while and could quite easily creep up on you when you expect it the least. You should also take them on time and don’t miss a dose, especially if you’re a child under 16 or pregnant. Your doctor will tell you what to do. If you don’t take your pills, or worse, you don’t even get any, you’ll be considered to be reckless and won’t be covered by your travel insurance.
Use a mosquito net at night
Obviously the best way to avoid malaria is not to get bitten in the first place. And the best way of doing that is to use a mosquito net. They’re cheap and fit into your luggage very easily.
Protect your room and protect yourself
- Mosquitos don’t like insect repellent, there’s a highly popular brand available across Southern Africa called Doom (great brand name!). Spray it liberally.
- You can also put a mosquito coil under your bed, they’re effective for up to eight hours.
- Where you can, stay in rooms with screens on the windows and/or air conditioning and don’t forget to switch off the lights, mosquitos like lights.
- They  like perfume and after-shave as well, so if you have a tendency to splash it all over, don’t. You’ll become a mosquito magnet.
- Wear long sleeves, especially at dawn and dusk.
- If you do fall ill, trust local doctors, they’ve got loads of experience.
Whilst you’re at it, take a few mosquito nets with you
As I said, they’re cheap and easy to put into your luggage. And you might save a life….
Related posts:
- How to make it to the World Cup and have a good time – safely
- Things to do when travelling abroad when pregnant
- What does safari travel insurance actually cover me for?
- Want to avoid the crowds? Don’t go to these places then
- Do you want to go to the World Cup in 2010?
Tags: Africa, backpacker, malaria, Travel, Travel insurance
July 14th, 2010 at 11:07 am
There are a few resoucres we often use and recommend travellers also visit whenever planning a trip. http://www.fitfortravel.nhs.uk is a public access website provided by the NHS (Scotland) and the Map at http://www.fitfortravel.nhs.uk/destinations.aspx is really useful to drill down to all the countries you’ll be visiting on your trip. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office also publish travel advice at http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/travel-and-living-abroad/travel-advice-by-country/
World First are proud partners of the Know before You Go Campaign too. See http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/travel-and-living-abroad/about-kbyg-campaign/
July 19th, 2010 at 4:37 pm
Great blog article guys, well done. The more people reallise how much of a problem malaria (over 100 deaths every hour of every day) the more likely people will take steps to protect themselves.
Remember the following A-B-C-D. Have an AWARENESS of the risk of malaria in your chosen holiday location. BITE prevention is most important, so use repellents, cover up and sleep under a mosquito net. DEET is the most well known repellent found in the UK. It’s very safe and 50% strength is perfectly adequate in most situations if used correctly. CHEMOPROPHYLAXIS – or anti-malarial tablets. Take them regularly and remember to take them when you’ve left the malaria zone. DIAGNOSIS – malaria can rear it’s head up to a year after you return. If you get any of the signs and symptoms of malaria after returning it is important you seek medical attention.
A very good site for information about malaria is: http://www.malariahotspots.co.uk/.
James
Director
Travel Health Consultacy – Exeter’s Travel Clinic
July 28th, 2010 at 10:11 am
In the Caribbean we have found mosquitos active in shady areas during the day e.g. under palapas ( thatched umbrellas ) round the pool. We got some bites early one holiday which we concluded were daytime bites, as we always used repellants for the evening from before dusk. We found that Suntan creams and Ultrathon mixed very easily ( and then can be applied together ) and that stopped us getting further daytime bites.
The Hospital for Tropical Diseases has an online shop selling what I assume is a very carefully selected range of effective products for travel purposes including repellants ( although Ultrathon is actually out of stock today 28/7/10 ).
August 23rd, 2010 at 7:02 am
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