• Question: hello, what is the best protection against malaria?

    Asked by nattycrabbypatty to Julian on 15 Mar 2011.
    • Photo: Julian Rayner

      Julian Rayner answered on 15 Mar 2011:

      Don’t get bitten by mosquitoes! It sounds trivial, but it is true – the kinds of mosquito that carry malaria (Anopheles mosquitoes) only come out at dusk, so wearing long sleeves and insect repellant, and sleeping under a mosquito net when you are in a malaria transmission zone are probably the most important things to do!

      There are also drugs that you can get from your doctor that you can take if you are traveling to somewhere there is malaria. This is basically a pre-emptive strike – taking anti-malarials every day so that if you do get infected, the drug is in your system to kill the parasites before they get established. The problem is that the people who really need the drugs, children in the developing world, often can’t afford them, don’t have access to them, or don’t get them early enough.

      There is no vaccine, which would be the best protection of all, but we are trying to get one!

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