UN health agency warns africa-bound holiday travelers to guard against malaria

The World Health Organization (WHO) Friday warned that holiday travelers bound for Africa should take extra precautions against contracting malaria -- a potentially fatal disease.

"The risk of malaria for travelers is real: each year thousands of travelers fall ill with malaria, and a proportion of these die," warned Dr. David Heymann, WHO Executive Director for Communicable Diseases. "Most of these deaths could be prevented by using repellents and taking other measures to prevent mosquito bites in combination with the regular use of the right anti-malarial drugs for prophylaxis," he stressed.

Noting that some travelers are under the misconception that they will not contract malaria during a short trip, Dr. Heymann said, "in reality, it is very possible to go on an outing for an hour -- even for just a few minutes -- and have that one mosquito bite that will inoculate the malaria parasites."

WHO is advising travelers to seek advice on the presence of malaria risk and the best drugs to take to help prevent the disease, and to protect themselves from mosquito bites by using repellents between dusk and dawn and insecticide-treated mosquito nets where necessary. The agency is also warning that no anti-malarial prophylactic regimen gives complete protection, and if travelers fall ill during or after the holiday they should seek medical attention quickly.