Malaria – What semi-immunity mean to me?

The fact that you are semi immune means that:
1. while you are living in your high malaria risk country you DO NOT need to take regular malaria preventive medication or prophylaxis.
2. but YOU SHOULD apply the insect bite prevention measures recommended in this presentation for yourself and your family.

Malaria – Insect bite prevention: 6 Top Tips
1. Bed Nets
Ensure chemically treated nets are fitted above each bed and that the nets are used and retreated every 6 - 12 months
2. Chemical Diffusers
Use electro-chemical diffusers in your house/rooms. Tabs give 10 hours of bite protection, while liquid insecticide bottles give 21 days
3. Insect repellent
Spray on exposed skin before going out at night. Carry in your pocket when going out for the night
4. Air Conditioners
Mosquitoes avoid cold places. The P. falciparum parasite cannot develop inside mosquitoes if the temperature is below 20°C
5. Mosquito coils
Use if socialising outside, burn coils where people are gathering
6. Insect spray
Make sure you spray your house/accommodation regularly



Malaria – Insect bite prevention: Checklists

INDOORS – CHECKLIST
Windows and doors are kept closed
Doors and windows are fitted with screens and regularly checked for holes
Where available air conditioning is working and on cold (preferably = 20ºC)
At night electric diffusers are plugged in and working, particularly in bedrooms
On verandas coils are burned
Accommodation is regularly sprayed with insecticide
Chemically treated bed net is provided and regularly checked for holes and   used correctly (tucked under the mattress all around the bed)


OUTDOORS - CHECKLIST
Long sleeve shirts are worn
Long trousers are worn at all times
Always wear socks outside at night
Before going outdoors apply repellent to uncovered parts of the body
Stay indoors at night whenever possible


Malaria –  Can I lose my partial immunity?
If you have left your high malaria risk country for more than 6 months you have lost your partial malaria immunity and your risk of catching malaria is equivalent to that of the expat population who has never been in a high malaria risk country. You should therefore:
take preventive malaria medication (the same taken by the expats – Malarone, Lariam or Doxycycline) when you return to your high risk malaria country (for vacation, on a transfer, to visit the family)

apply all of the insect bite prevention measures

see a doctor urgently if you or anyone in your family has flu-like symptoms

Malaria –  What happens when I travel?
The fact that you are semi immune means that:

when you leave your high malaria risk country to go to a country where the malaria risk is lower or where there is no malaria, you have the same risk of dying as the expat employee

you need to carry a Curative Malaria Kit with you

Malaria – Symptoms

There are no specific symptoms for malaria. The main symptoms of malaria are often mistaken for those of flu (the common cold). They can include any of the following:
1. fever
2. chills
3. headache
4. fatigue
5. weakness
6. aches and pains
7. abdominal pain
8. diarrhea
9. vomiting

If you have any symptom or any combination of symptoms and you live in a malaria country or have departed a malaria country within the last 8 weeks:
1. See a doctor
2. Get a blood test for malaria
3. Do not lose time
Until you have proven otherwise, assume any of these symptoms are symptoms of malaria

Malaria Mosquito

Malaria – The Key Facts

The key fact about Malaria are :
1. It is a disease transmitted by mosquitoes
2. The disease is passed by female Anopheles mosquitoes that bite at NIGHT
3. The mosquito injects parasites into the blood which take less that 30 minutes to reach the liver
4. Once in the liver parasites develop until ready to leave and enter the blood stream where they attack red blood cells
5. One bite is enough to give you malaria
6. It affects over 40% of the worlds population infecting between 300 – 500 million people per year resulting in over a million deaths worldwide (>80% in Africa)
7. From the time one gets bitten to the time the symptoms start to appear can take between 7 and 60 days
8. There is no vaccination
9. Only falciparum malaria kills
10. Once correctly treated falciparum malaria can ONLY reoccur if the person is once again bitten by an infected mosquito
11. There are 3 other forms of malaria – vivax, ovale and malariae – these are very rarely fatal. However, even if correctly treated, these 3 forms of malaria can reoccur for many years without any new mosquito bite

Malaria Prevention

This post is for who are born and living since birth in a high malaria risk country as defined by map below. It is particularly important for who may work in remote locations or travel outside of their high malaria risk country for training, company business etc.

Africa –  Angola, Chad, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Sudan, Congo, Uganda, Mozambique

Asia – Cambodia, Indonesia, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam

South America – Amazon Basin including jungles of Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru

Malaria High Risk Country Map

For more information about The Fact of Malaria Click the link.