Malaria in Uganda

Uganda is one of the countries in Africa that has a high risk of malaria. It actually has the third highest amount of deaths from the disease and the transmission of malaria is very high in the country. The disease is an endemic in the country so anyone visiting the area is advised to use malaria tablets.

Malaria tablets are taken as a preventative measure so that if you do get bitten, you already have the medication in your system to combat the parasite. Chloroquine is a popular anti-malarial but unfortunately a number of areas are becoming resistant to the drug and Uganda is one of them. If you use Chloroquine, you will not be protected against malaria. Therefore, Mefloquine, Doxycycline or Malarone are usually prescribed if you are visiting Uganda. It is important that you complete your full course of malaria tablets so that if you were infected, your body has the best possible chance of stopping the parasite from causing malaria.

You must also follow insect protection methods, which are standard across countries that have a risk of malaria. If possible, you should sleep somewhere with air conditioning, making sure that you keep the doors and windows shut at all times. Some places also have screens that you can put up so that the windows can be open to let in air but the screens stop the mosquitoes. You will need to sleep in a mosquito net if you can not sleep anywhere with air-conditioning and these protect you as they have been sprayed with insecticide and the mosquito can not physically get to you. Stay indoors from dusk onwards and cover your skin with loose clothing. You can also use insect repellent to avoid being bitten.

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