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British Travellers Still Face Malaria Threat

Tue, 01 May 2007

UK travellers are still at risk from malaria with new figures from the Health Protection Agency highlighting 1758 cases reported in British travellers in 2006. A total of eight of these cases ended up being fatal.

A majority of these cases, 1386 of them, were due to the potentially fatal Plasmodium falciparum, which is a major international health risk, killing more than 1 million people each year throughout Africa . Another 219 were reportedly due to Plasmodium vivax, which causes a debilitating disease, but is rarely fatal.

Over 50 per cent of the malaria cases reported in Britain were in people visiting family and friends in the tropics.

Professor Peter Chiodini, a malaria expert at the HPA, said, "It is a common misconception that people who were born in places where malaria is rife and who now live in the UK, have immunity to malaria."

"This is not the case because they very quickly lose the partial immunity they might have acquired whilst they lived there, and people who have never lived in these countries have no immunity."

"It is particularly important that people are aware that they are at risk if they do not follow advice on malaria prevention," he added.

Malaria is a potentially life-threatening illness, and although it can be prevented, many holidaymakers put themselves at risk by not taking the appropriate protective drugs, or not completing the course . The virus can be caught through one bite from an Anopheles mosquito.

With thousands of people and families set to jet off abroad for their summer holidays to destinations that may have a malaria threat, it is vital that they plan ahead and seek pre-travel medical advice, which should include what preventive drugs and other measures are appropriate for their destination.

Courses should be started prior to leaving and continued after returning back to the UK . Measures should also be taken to prevent mosquito bites when abroad, including applying insect repellent, protective sleeping and bed nets, and wearing cover-up clothing .

If a fever develops within a year of returning from a malarious area medical attention should be sought ASAP, as delayed diagnosis increases the risk of fatality.
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