Basically, malaria is treated with medication. The various drugs kill the malaria pathogens. Mild forms can be treated on an outpatient basis, while malaria tropica must always be treated on an inpatient basis because of the risk of complications. In addition, the treatment of malaria depends on which pathogen is present, whether it has resistance to a drug, how severe the course of the disease is, and whether medication has already been taken in advance.
Prevention of malaria
Unfortunately, there is no vaccine against malaria yet. To protect yourself against the malaria pathogens, you can either take steps to avoid being bitten (this is called exposure prophylaxis) or take precautionary medications that kill the pathogens once they are in your body (chemoprophylaxis). You can take the following measures for exposure prophylaxis:
- Stay in mosquito-proof rooms prepared with fly screens and air conditioning.
- Sleep under mosquito nets impregnated with insecticidal substances (mosquitoes are nocturnal)!
- Wear mosquito-proof clothing such as long pants, socks, long-sleeved blouses or shirts.
- Use insect repellents (mosquito repellent sprays).
Chemoprophylaxis does not provide absolute protection against infection, but it increases your safety. What medication you should take depends on the destination, travel time and duration, as well as your travel style – a multi-week backpacking trip in the rainy season in northern Thailand is riskier than a short trip to a hotel resort in the south. Coordinate with your doctor and check with the Robert Koch Institute (www.rki.de) or the Hamburg Tropical Institute (www.gesundes-reisen.de) for prophylaxis recommendations for your travel area. In addition, you can take a “standby” medication with you on vacation, which is a medication you take immediately if you have symptoms suspicious of malaria – then you should see a doctor as soon as possible. In malaria areas, it is hoped that infected mosquitoes will be displaced by genetically engineered forms that are resistant to malaria.
