Preventative Medication

	With no vaccine available for malaria, appropriate advice on the use of preventative anti malaria drugs should be an essential part of a corporate malaria guidance policy.

For preventative drugs to be effective they must be:
•Chosen correctly for the area and the person
•Taken before arriving in the malarial area
•Taken regularly
•Taken for long enough after leaving the area.

There are a growing number of different drugs available but they differ in performance. Some such as Chloroquine now have limited effect in some parts of the world, in this case south east Asia, where the P.Falciparum parasite that causes the disease has developed Chloroquine resistance. Others such as Larium have reported marked side effects. The choice of drug may also be influenced by timescales. Effective protection using Larium requires medication be started one week before entering a Malaria zone. For Malarone it's just 24-48 hours in advance, although this doesn't allow any time to assess any adverse reactions.

The best policy is to ensure your employees are prescribed the right medication well before travelling. Alerting employers to the need for this is essential. For more information about malarial drugs please see the malaria range our colleagues at medekit.com offer or contact them at medekit@medekit.com.