How Do You Prevent Malaria Infections?

This page answers the question "how do you prevent malaria infections?" To understand it better, I recommend that you read about malaria transmission here, then click on the back button of your browser and you will be directed back to this page.

Q - How do you prevent malaria infections?

A - The most effective way to protect yourself from getting malaria is by ensuring that you don't get bitten by mosquitoes. But this advice oversimplifies the malaria problem. There are other steps that also need to be taken. Read on.

Q - What practical steps can I take to prevent malaria?

A -

1. Reduce the mosquito population where you live.
2. Prevent mosquitoes from biting you.
3. Take preventive malaria medication.

Q - How can I reduce the mosquito population where I live?

A - Destroy their breeding sites. Mosquitoes breed in stagnant collections of water like empty tins, broken pots and used tyres that have rain-water collections, gutters and drainage systems that aren't flowing.

Kill mosquitoes using insecticides. Spraying your environment with insecticides will help reduce the population of mosquitoes. There are different types of insecticides; some are suitable for indoor use while some are NOT. Ask at the shop before you buy and read the instructions carefully.

There are other means of killing mosquitoes, like the electric mosquito trapper and other new innovations but their efficacy is reduced in larger environments.

Q - How can I prevent mosquitoes from biting me?

A -

1. Wearing protective wears like socks and long trousers that cover the skin well in the evenings and at night because the female anopheles mosquito that transmits malaria likes to feed in the evenings and at night.
2. Using insect repellent creams. These creams contain chemical compounds that mosquitoes find offensive and so try to avoid.
3. Sleeping under an Insecticide Treated Net (ITN). Mosquitoes die or are repelled if they come near an ITN, so even if your body is in contact with the net, mosquitoes won't be able to bite you through the holes in the net. In addition, ITNs have been shown to also have some protective effect on someone sleeping without the ITN in the same room.

Q - How do you prevent malaria infections by taking drugs?

A - Certain drugs are given to people who are in the vulnerable group for malaria. The rationale behind this is to stop any plasmodium that gets into the blood stream from causing malaria and if it causes malaria, to reduce the severity of the infection.

Drugs used for such preventive measures include Proguanil, Mefloquine, Atovaquone and Doxycycline. They are taken daily or weekly in doses that are less than the therapeutic dose. It is recommended to start prophylaxis before exposure to the risk or malaria infection and continued till about 4 weeks afterwards.

Q - How do you prevent malaria complications from arising?

A - The best way is to avoid getting the infection in the first place. However, if a person already has malaria, the best way to prevent complications from arising is by getting the recommended treatment for malaria.

Created - October, 2006
Last Updated - August, 2009