SIMPLE WAYS TO PREVENT MALARIA
Prevention of malaria involves protecting yourself against mosquito bites and taking antimalarial medicines. But public health officials strongly recommend that young children and pregnant women avoid traveling to areas where malaria is common.
The most current information about malaria is available from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO). If you are planning international travel, you can learn about the risk of malaria in that geographic area and the medicines recommended to prevent infection by contacting:
Prevent mosquito bites
To prevent mosquito bites , follow these guidelines:
Stay inside when it is dark outside, preferably in a screened or air-conditioned room.
Wear protective clothing (long pants and long-sleeved shirts).
Use insect repellent with DEET (N,N diethylmetatoluamide). You can buy repellents in different strengths. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and other experts suggest that it is safe to use a repellent that contains 10% to 30% DEET on children older than age 2 months.
Use bed nets (mosquito netting) sprayed with or soaked in an insecticide such aspermethrin or deltamethrin. But make sure that these insecticides still work against the mosquitoes where you are. In some areas, mosquitoes have become resistant to permethrin and deltamethrin. So the bed nets do not offer much protection.
Use flying-insect spray indoors around sleeping areas.
Avoid areas where malaria and mosquitoes are present if you are at higher risk (for example, if you are pregnant, very young, or very old).
Other steps that may be helpful in reducing the risk of malaria include wearing protective clothing, using aerosol insecticides in your house, and taking certain antimalarial medicines.
Medicines to prevent malaria
The selection of medicines to prevent malaria depends on the geographic region where you may be exposed to malaria and your health condition (such as being pregnant, being elderly or young, being sick, or having immunity or resistance to malaria, or having allergies or sensitivity to the medicine).
If you are going to a location where malaria is present, it is very important to take preventive medicines and to follow the correct schedule for taking them. The majority of people who become infected with malaria do not take preventive malaria medicines or do not follow the correct dosing schedule.
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