• Unlike the situation with dengue, there are specific drugs for malaria.
• The decision as to whether drugs should be taken rests with the individual and where exactly they intend to travel . Most travellers to the Philippines don’t take antimalarials.
• As the drugs need to be paid for, it’s important to choose the right ones for where you are going. Expect to pay 40 GBP for a course.
• Price should not be the only factor – up to a third of antimalarials on sale around the world - including South East Asia - are fake . The NHS will treat – for free - those unfortunate enough to be diagnosed with malaria on return to the UK.
• Drug resistance to front-line treatments for malaria is increasing. The parasite to worry about is Plasmodium falciparum, carried by mosquitoes.
• For the Philippines, these are the drugs to take : Mefloquine ( Larium ) 250 mg starting 1 - 3 weeks before travel, every week in the malarious area ; OR doxycycline ( Vibramycin ) 100 mg daily, starting 2 days before. Continue tablets for 4 weeks after leaving. Proguanil 100 mg and atovaquone 250 mg ( Malarone ) is a third choice – start 2 days before and continue for 1 week after leaving. They are over 90% effective. Possible side effects are too numerous to list here – consult your healthcare professional first, and read the instructions.
• Do NOT take chloroquine ( Avloclor, Nivaquine, or Malarivon ) alone or with proguanil ( Paludrine / Avloclor ), quinine, artemether with lumefantrine ( Riamet ), primaquine, pyrimethamine ( Daraprim ) or pyrimethamine with sulfadoxine. This is because of resistance or ineffectiveness or use in treatment of known malaria.
• For travel to other malarious areas, risk - and the recommended drugs - vary.