Thursday 17 September 2015

2015 UK Malaria Guidelines published today

Guidelines for malaria prevention in travellers from the UK for 2015 have just been published by Public Health England see HERE or on image below.  The document now has page numbers added to help you find your way around more easily!  The key changes include updated guidance on the use of insect repellent and sun protection; updated guidance on the use of hydroxychloroquine, anticoagulants, doxycycline use in epilepsy; new maps for India and South Africa; changes to recommendations for Vietnam and Malaysian Borneo; clarification of advice for people moving through areas requiring different malaria chemoprophylaxis and an appendix with information including membership of the committee, terms of reference and methodology used to make the recommendations.


Interesting in that also today a report published in the journal Nature, states nearly 700 million cases of malaria have been prevented in Africa as a result of concerted efforts to tackle the disease since 2000 and overall the number of infections fell by 50% across the continent. Bed nets were responsible for the vast majority of the decrease.  To see this news item on the BBC see HERE and for the article in Nature see HERE.