Important Information for Medicated Protection Against Malaria
Background
Every year more than a hundred travellers from the UK catch malaria and tens of them die. The onset can be rapid. The right anti malaria tablet provides good protection.
Do NOT forget you may also need vaccines and other health advice from a GP or travel clinic.
Choosing to buy anti-malaria tablets online
No one type of recommended anti-malaria tablet works better than another. Some are daily tablets, some weekly. Some are started a few days before travel, others 2 or 3 weeks before.
Online prescribing is restricted to adults (18+ yrs) only. Speak to a GP, pharmacist or travel clinic if malaria tablets for children are required.
(POM) Anti-malaria tablets are prescription only medicine except chloroquine or chloroquine with proguanil.
Taking anti-malaria tablets
Symptoms of malaria
Malaria symptoms start out similar to flu. Symptoms include fever, shivers, sweating, backache, joint pains, headache, vomiting, diarrhoea & sometimes delirium.
These symptoms may take a week or more to develop after you have been bitten by an infected mosquito.
Malarone or 'generic malarone'
A lower cost licensed generic version of Malarone became available in the UK from February 2013. This is non-branded atovaquone/proguanil, also known as 'generic malarone', and is medically identical to Malarone. Choose between one or the other at the end of the consultation (price information below).
Avoiding bites
Mosquitoes can bite at any time of day. Most bites occur in the evening.