Malaria: how to protect your family, and what to do when the fever starts
Malaria is still one of the most common reasons families in this region come to hospital. The good news is that most of it is preventable, and when it is caught early it is very treatable.
The short version: sleep under a treated net every night, and if anyone in the house gets a fever, get a malaria test before taking any medicine.
Preventing it
Sleep under a treated net — every night, all year
An insecticide-treated net is still the single most effective thing most households can do. The mosquitoes that carry malaria bite mainly between dusk and dawn, which is exactly when your family is in bed.
- Tuck the net under the mattress or mat on all sides.
- Repair holes — a torn net still helps, but a whole one helps far more.
- Do not wash it more often than the label says, and never with hot water or bleach. Washing removes the insecticide.
- Priority goes to young children and pregnant women if you do not have enough nets for everyone.
Clear standing water around the home
Mosquitoes breed in still water. Empty tins, old tyres, buckets, blocked drains and pot plant trays every few days. It will not remove malaria on its own, but it reduces how many mosquitoes are around your house.
If you are pregnant
Pregnancy makes malaria more dangerous for both mother and baby. Attend antenatal clinic, use a net every night, and take the preventive treatment your clinic offers during pregnancy.
When someone gets a fever
Test before you treat. Not every fever is malaria, and treating without a test means the real cause goes unfound.
A rapid test takes about fifteen minutes at most dispensaries and health centres. Buying anti-malarials from a shop without a test is common, and it causes two problems: people take malaria medicine for illnesses that are not malaria, and the parasites slowly become harder to treat.
If the test is positive
Take the full course of treatment your health worker gives you, even after you start feeling better. Stopping early is one of the main reasons malaria comes back and one of the main reasons medicines stop working over time.
Go immediately, do not wait, if there is
- Fever in a child under five, or in a pregnant woman
- A fit or convulsion
- Confusion, unusual sleepiness, or difficulty waking the person
- Difficulty breathing
- Very dark or reddish urine
- Inability to eat or drink, or vomiting everything
These can be signs of severe malaria, which needs treatment in a facility, not at home.
A common misunderstanding
Having had malaria before does not protect you from getting it again. Adults who grew up in a malaria area may get milder illness, but they still carry and pass on the parasite, and they still need testing when they have fever.
Ask at your local facility
Malaria prevention programmes — including net distribution and childhood malaria vaccination — change from year to year and from county to county. Your nearest dispensary or health centre will know what is currently available in your area.
This article is general health education for families. It is not a diagnosis and does not replace assessment by a qualified health worker.