Are you planning on traveling abroad to a tropical climate or one that has a risk of malaria infection? Urgent Way can help prepare you for your trip with medications and consultation to help you prevent malaria infection.
There is no known vaccine for malaria, so prevention involves safe travel practices, mosquito bite prevention, and taking medications that help boost your resistance to malaria. Let Urgent Way help ensure that your international travel experience will be a pleasant one using our malaria prevention travel clinics.
Urgent Way is open every single day — 7 days a week, 365 days a year. No appointments are needed. Simply walk in and see the next available doctor.
Malaria is unusual for an infectious disease in that it is not caused by bacteria or viruses. Instead, the Plasmodium group of parasites is transmitted into the bloodstream via mosquito bite. Plasmodium is a single-celled microorganism belonging to the protozoan kingdom.
Within 8 to 25 days of infection, those infected with malaria will begin to present flu-like symptoms. These include high fever, chills, dizziness, nausea, headaches, and muscle aches.
In severe cases, debilitating joint pain, convulsions, jaundice, retinal damage, anemia, and hemoglobin staining in urine. Rare cases, usually incited by the P. falciparum protist, may progress to severe neurological damage that includes contorted posturing, irregular eye movements, seizures, and coma.
Left untreated, brain swelling, severe anemia, pneumonia, and acute respiratory distress syndrome can occur. Malaria likely originated in sub-Saharan Africa, but it has spread to multiple areas over the course of thousands of years. Malaria is most-common in hotter, humid, tropical regions, but it can be found in temperate regions where standing water is common. Primitive agricultural practices can increase the occurrence of standing water, a factor that allowed malaria to spread during the time of the Roman Empire, leading to malaria’s ancient nickname “Roman Fever.”
In modern times, the risk of malaria infection is highest in sub-Saharan African countries. It can also be contracted in regions of tropical South America and southern Asia, especially in Thailand, Vietnam, and Papua New Guinea.
Consult the CDC’s Travelers’ Health Guide page for more information on whether your intended destination carries a high risk of malaria infection.
As of now, there is no known vaccine or immunization method for malaria. However, taking anti-malaria medications can lessen the chances that Plasmodium parasites will survive and breed in your bloodstream.
Altogether, there are 5 different anti-malaria drugs available that can be taken orally. Health experts recommend taking different ones based on the countries you intend to visit and the Plasmodium strains you are likely to encounter. Medicine dosages should be taken before, during, and after your travels in areas with a risk of malaria infection.
Note that no medication can provide 100% protection against malaria. Therefore, precautions must be taken to prevent mosquito bites that transmit the disease. Sleep under mosquito nets, wear long clothing with full coverage, apply insect repellant to exposed areas, and consider treating clothes with mosquito-repelling substances.
Urgent Way can make recommendations based on your intended travel destinations and the activities you plan on doing there. Visit us for a walk-in appointment to prepare for your journey.
