Malaria is one of the world’s most dangerous diseases, and infects more than 300 million people each year. The most serious form can kill, but other milder types still make you feel very ill, causing fever and sweating that return at regular intervals for years if the disease is not treated properly.

Every year at least 1 million people die from malaria, and every 30 seconds an African child dies from the disease.

 

Malaria is particularly dangerous in young children who have little resistance to the infection. The World Health Organization advises against taking babies or young children on holiday to malarious areas, particularly where there is drug resistance to the most dangerous form of malaria. Malaria is also very dangerous for pregnant women.

 

Malaria is caused by plasmodia, microscopic parasites that are widespread in the animal kingdom. In human malaria, the plasmodia are spread from person to person by Anopheles mosquitoes. These ‘malarial’ mosquitoes live side by side with man in many tropical or warm and wet regions of the world, so the parasite, and the disease it causes, is easily spread

 

The most dangerous type (caused by Plasmodiumfalciparum) is common in South-east Asia and Africa.

the type of drug your doctor prescribes for you will partly depend on the region you are travelling to. Medication that worked in the past may no longer be effective and has to be changed from time to time. The parasite is becoming resistant to some of the most commonly used drugs. Also, the threat of malaria is increasing for a variety of economic, political and climatic reasons.

 

In some countries, risk also varies from season to season. It is highest during the rainy season, when there are many mosquitoes. In areas where there is a stable, warm, humid climate, the risk may be high throughout the year

About the vaccination

At the moment there is no vaccine for malaria. The development of vaccines to the malarial parasite is very complicated, unlike the process used for many of the common diseases caused by bacteria or viruses. Research programmes are underway, but a reliable vaccine is unlikely to be ready for several years.