You can take medicines to treat malaria or cut the risk of getting the disease.
Malaria is a serious disease that causes high fever, chills, and flu-like symptoms that can be life-threatening if not treated quickly. You can get malaria when you visit different parts of the world, especially countries in warmer, tropical climates.
Using medicines to prevent sickness is known as prophylactic medicine — which means you take medicine even though you are not sick to stay healthy.
But malaria pills aren’t 100% effective at preventing the disease. The pills should be used with other preventive steps, such as wearing insect repellent, wearing long sleeves, and protecting your sleeping area with a net or other kinds of bed treatment.
How Do You Lower Your Risk of Malaria Before You Travel?
Long before you set foot into a foreign country, follow these steps:
Check the CDC and World Health Organization websites to see whether your destination is a hot spot for malaria. Regions affected by malaria include Sub-Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia, parts of Central and South America, and the Middle East.
Get details of where you’ll go during your trip. Your chance of getting malaria will vary depending on your activities and which country you’ll be visiting. Your doctor needs this info so they can prescribe the drug that works best with the type of malaria parasites that are active there. The CDC’s “Malaria Information by Country Table” gives you detailed malaria info about each country.
See your doctor or travel clinic about four to six weeks before your trip. Some malaria pills require that you start taking the drug three weeks before you depart.
How Do Malaria Pills Work?
You’ll be directed to take the drugs before, during, and for about one to four weeks after traveling to a malaria-prone area. This is because the parasites that cause the disease can linger in your body long after you’ve been bitten.
The drugs kill malaria parasites when they’re in your liver or red blood cells — before they get out of control.
You can still get malaria even if you’ve taken the pills. But taking them cuts your chances of getting sick by about 90%. The drugs are not a vaccine; there is no vaccine for malaria.
Types of Malaria Pills
Your doctor will likely choose the drug that’s recommended for the area where you’re traveling. It might be one of the following:
Atovaquone-proguanil (Malarone)
You’ll take this pill daily, starting one to two days before your trip, and you’ll keep taking it for a week afterward. Side effects of this drug are less common than those for other drugs, but pregnant women or people with kidney problems shouldn’t take it. Atovaquone-proguanil also costs more than some other malaria drugs.
Chloroquine
This drug is taken once a week — you start it about one to two weeks before your trip and continue for four weeks after. But chloroquine is rarely used anymore because it no longer works against Plasmodium falciparum, the most common and dangerous type of malaria parasite. Your doctor might recommend it if you’re going to areas where there’s malaria not caused by P. falciparum.
Doxycycline
This daily pill is usually the most affordable malaria drug. You start taking it one to two days before your trip and continue taking it for four weeks afterward. Side effects include an upset stomach, bad reactions to the sun, and if you’re a woman, yeast infections. Pregnant women and children younger than 8 shouldn’t take this pill.
Mefloquine
Begin taking this weekly drug one to two weeks before travel and continue until four weeks afterward. Pregnant women can use it, but people who have a history of seizures, severe heart problems, or psychiatric conditions shouldn’t. Side effects can include dizziness, sleep disturbance, and psychiatric reactions.
Primaquine
This weekly drug is taken one to two days before travel, continuing until one week afterward. Side effects can include an upset stomach. Pregnant women shouldn’t take primaquine, nor should people with glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (, in which certain drugs cause red blood cells to break down.
Tafenoquine (Arakoda, Kozenis, Krintafel)
This new drug is recommended for adults aged 16 years or older who are traveling to malaria hot spots. It is to be taken daily for three days before traveling to the region, once a week while there, and then a dose seven days after exiting the area.
Tafenoquine can also be used to stop relapse in those who are already infected with malaria. The drug has been known to cause an upset stomach. It should not be taken by those younger than 16 years of age, women who are pregnant or breastfeeding, those with G6PD deficiency, or those with a history of psychiatric disorders.
What if I Get Malaria Anyway?
If you have symptoms of malaria, get help at once. It’s important to start treatment as soon as possible before it gets more severe.
Your doctor will try to decide what type of malaria infection you have to figure out which drug you should take. This is important, as some malaria parasites have become resistant to certain medications. Your doctor may prescribe a combo of malaria medications to help you avoid this drug-resistance problem.
The type of drug you’re prescribed will depend on several things, including:
- The type of malaria infection you have
- Your age
- Your physical condition
- Whether you took medicine to prevent malaria and, if so, what kind
- Whether you’re pregnant
- Your medical history
These drugs may be swallowed or taken through an IV line for people with severe cases.
Many of the medicines used to treat malaria are the same ones listed above for preventing it. You shouldn’t take the same medicine to treat malaria that you took while trying to prevent it.
Takeaways
Malaria pills can lower your risk by about 90%, but you still need to use bug spray, wear long sleeves, and use bed nets to stay protected.
Before you travel internationally, see a doctor four to six weeks before your trip. Some malaria pills need to be started well before you leave and continue after you get back.
The best malaria medication depends on where you’re going, your health, and things such as pregnancy. So your doctor will pick what’s safest and most effective for you.
Malaria Medications FAQs
How do you get malaria pills for travel?
You’ll need to see a doctor or a travel nurse to get a prescription for anti-malaria pills. Ideally, you’ll need to do this four to six weeks before you travel. You’ll need to take them before, during, and after your trip.
How much do malaria pills cost?
Malaria pills range from a few cents to $40-$100 or more, depending on the type of med your doctor suggests, your health conditions, such as pregnancy or chronic illnesses, any discount coupons you might use, and whether your insurance helps cover the cost.
Can you get over-the-counter malaria pills?
You can only get anti-malaria pills by prescription in the U.S. You should get them from a pharmacy and start taking them before you travel to your destination. Other countries may sell them over the counter, but you should still talk to a health care professional before taking them.
Is it safe to take malaria pills while pregnant?
If you’re pregnant, it’s best to avoid areas with high cases of malaria. However, if you have to travel, you can take most of the anti-malaria pills like chloroquine, mefloquine, and sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP) (only in your second trimester and beyond).
The CDC and WHO don’t generally recommend Atovaquone-Proguanil (Malarone) because there isn’t enough safety data on it. They’ll usually choose other anti-malaria meds such as chloroquine or mefloquine, depending on where you are traveling.
Other anti-malarial meds to avoid are doxycycline, primaquine, and tafenoquine. These meds should not be taken if you are pregnant.