What protection should I take against malaria

What protection against malaria you should consider, is one that I get asked frequently by people joining me on a Borneo orangutan holiday. This is my personal opinion based on many years spent in areas of the world with a risk of Malaria. I should clarify that I’m not downplaying this disease. Malaria kills one child every 30 seconds and over one million people die from malaria each year. Most of these are children under five years of age and 90% of malaria cases occur in Sub-Saharan Africa. Time for a quick photo so we can try and appreciate the beauty of a mosquito ?

Protection against malaria

Thanks to  Stephen Brend for being a) extremely patient and b) very eccentric while I spent lots of time getting this photo of the blood in the mosquito. 

Bite prevention

I spend too much time in various parts of the world which have a malaria risk to take anti-malarial drugs. My main form of prevention is to keep bites down to a minimum by covering up at dawn and dusk. Sleeping under a mosquito net and using potions to try and persuade the little bastards that I’m not that tasty is also part of my weaponry. Personally I don’t like using Deet based products as it’s so toxic that it melts plastic. This rules out most of the brands on offer in chemists but I can highly recommend Incognito which is a totally natural spray.

I also use Avon Skin so Soft sometimes which is highly thought of by the British Army and also works very well. My current system is to travel with a few essential oils and a small spray bottle and mix my own repellent. I use a few drops of geranium, citronella, lemon eucalyptus and lavender oil with 75% water and 25% witch hazel. These are small and light to travel with and make a huge amount of repellent very cheaply.

Cover up at dawn and dusk

I wear long sleeve shirts and long trousers at dawn and dusk and even socks sometimes. If there’s lot’s of mosquitoes around I tuck my trousers into my socks and risk looking a fool. But luckily I lost my dignity many years ago. Mosquitoes just like the taste of some people and unfortunately I’m one of them.

Anti malarial drugs

I don’t take anti-malarial drugs. Principally because of the number of weeks I spend each year rummaging around in rain forests. If you go to your doctor or travel clinic before visiting an area with a risk of malaria they will recommend that you take a course. Malarone tablets seem to have the least side effects. However the treatment for malaria in many parts of the world is to take four Malarone tablets for three days consecutively so I always travel with 12 Mararone tablets to self treat, 

Some other thoughts

Only certain species of mosquitoes – and only the females of those species – transmit malaria. Female mosquitoes pick up the parasite from other infected people. This is why outbreaks are much more common in places with lots of humans. Your chances of contracting malaria are far higher in a town than in a forest. I’ve had hundreds of mosquito bites over the last couple of decades in rain forests but have never contracted malaria. The chances of getting malaria in Tanjung Puting national park where I run my Borneo orangutan trips is extremely low. But you should always take your own view having contacted your doctor or travel clinic.

It’s also worth remembering that mosquitoes transmit other diseases such as Dengue Fever so the best option is to keep bites to a minimum by covering up and using mosquito spray particularly  when you are in tropical areas where there are plenty of people around.

orangutan kiss