Malaria Prevention: What To Do
Avoiding mosquito bites and taking preventive medication in malaria areas.
Last revised
Malaria kills, it is preventable, and most UK cases occur in travellers who took no prophylaxis or stopped it early.
Key takeaways
- ABCD: Awareness, Bite prevention, Chemoprophylaxis, Diagnosis
- Tablets: must continue after leaving the area, for the full course
- Most useful single change: Take antimalarials exactly as prescribed, including after returning.
- Commonest mistake: Stopping tablets on leaving the country.
- See a doctor if any of the signs under "When to get help" below apply to you.
Do
- Take antimalarials exactly as prescribed, including after returning
- Use 50 per cent DEET on exposed skin, reapplied as directed
- Sleep under an insecticide-treated net
- Cover arms and legs from dusk
Do not
- Stopping tablets on leaving the country
- Relying on repellent alone in a high-risk area
- Buying antimalarials from unverified online sources
The figures behind the list
Each item above follows from these, published in the guidance named at the foot of the page.
| Measure | Figure |
|---|---|
| ABCD | Awareness, Bite prevention, Chemoprophylaxis, Diagnosis |
| Tablets | must continue after leaving the area, for the full course |
| Bite prevention | DEET repellent, covering up, treated nets |
| Peak biting time | dusk to dawn for the malaria mosquito |
| Fever after travel | malaria until proven otherwise |
Where to go next
- Understanding Malaria Prevention: A Plain-English Explainer
- A Working Checklist for Malaria Prevention
- Malaria Prevention — the reference entry
- Travellers Diarrhoea: What the Evidence Actually Says
- Flying and Health: What Published Guidance Supports
When to get help
See a doctor urgently for any fever, flu-like illness, headache or sweats during travel or within twelve months of returning from a malaria area, and say where you have been — malaria can be rapidly fatal and is treatable. Do not wait to see whether it settles. Attend A&E if you cannot get a same-day appointment.
Where this comes from
How this page was put together
Every figure, recommendation and warning above is taken from the guidance named in Where this comes from. Nothing on this page is inferred, summarised or generalised beyond what those bodies publish: where they give a number, it is their number, and where they are silent, so are we. Pages are rebuilt whenever the underlying record changes. Sign-off by a named clinician, where it has happened, is shown at the top of the page along with the date.
Medical disclaimer
This article is general information, not medical advice. It cannot account for your own history, medication or circumstances. Always speak to a GP, pharmacist or another qualified health professional before making changes that affect your treatment, and never delay seeking medical advice because of something you have read here. In an emergency, call 999.