Holiday Season is just around the corner so we would like to get you thinking about Malaria and how you can prevent catching it.

Approximately 1,500 travellers return to the UK with malaria every year. In 2008, there were 1,370 cases of malaria reported and six deaths in the UK.

Malaria is a tropical disease spread by night-biting mosquitoes. When a mosquito infected with malaria parasites (plasmodia) bites you, it injects the parasites into your body. It only takes a single mosquito bite for you to become infected.

Symptoms can develop as quickly as eight days but, in some cases the parasites can stay inactive in the body and symptoms may not develop for up to a year.

Any type of malaria is dangerous but malaria caused by the falciparum parasite is the most serious. It can develop very rapidly and lead to severe illness and death.

When travelling to high-risk areas, be aware of the symptoms of malaria, such as fever. Seek immediate medical attention if you experience any symptoms, even several months after your trip.

For more information about symptoms and causes of Malaria visit http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Malaria.

At Jaysons Pharmacy we offer a wide variety of medication that can prevent the contraction of Malaria. All of which are available to buy on our website www.jaysonspharmacy.com where our independent prescriber pharmacist can issue private prescriptions for different Malaria Prevention Drugs, or you can get a private prescription from your GP and use that on our website.

What Medication should you take?

This depends entirely on where you are visiting.

There are 6 main treatments available to purchase:

1. Mefloquine – One tablet weekly
2. Doxycycline – 100mg Daily
3. Malarone – One tablet daily – Available for JUST £2.25 per tablet on our website.
4. Proguanil – Two tablets daily + Chloroquine – Two tablets weekly
5. Chloroquine – Two tablets weekly OR Proguanil – Two tablets   daily
6. No tablets needed – Use insect repellents, mosquito nets and wear long sleeved clothing at night.

Advice on which treatment should be taken, depending on which region of the world you are travelling to, can be given by your GP, pharmacist, or other travel experts.