Malaria pills can be used in two ways. The first is to treat a patient who has actually contacted Malaria and the second is to use them as a prophylaxis – in order to prevent someone from getting malaria it in the first place.
It is vital that you check which medications you need to take for the county to which you are travelling before you go away. Some of these recommendations change from time to time so you should check the latest NHS and Foreign Office recommendations to ensure that you get the correct medications.
No medication can provide 100% protection against malaria and there will not be just one recommended antimalarial tablet for the area to which you are travelling- there will be several. The most important thing is to ensure that you take a recommended medication, which is suitable for the region you are travelling to.
Malaria pills are safe, but you should always inform your doctor if you are already taking other medications before you start taking malaria pills.
This is because some malaria pills interact with certain mediations causing them to become less effective.
Some malaria pills may also interact with antibiotics such as tetracyclines and rifampicin. You should make a full disclosure to your doctor about any medications that you are taking so that you can be prescribed the correct antimalarial tablets.
All prescription medications can cause the patient to have side effects. The most common side effects of malaria pills are:
Other common side effects include:
You should not let any potential side effects of malaria pills prevent you from taking the medication. The effects of contracting malaria are much worse than the side effects of taking the pills and can, if not detected in time, be fatal.