QUESTION

My son, 7 years old, took Mefloquine course for malaria prevention last year. We are travelling to INdia again this year. Does he and myself need to repeat the anti-malaria pills again this year?

ANSWER

Yes. You need to take anti-malarial preventative medication every time you go back to a malarial area. It is also important to continue taking the drug for the required amount of time before and after returning from your trip—in the case of mefloquine, you need to start taking it two weeks before you depart for the malarial area, and then continue you taking it for 4 weeks after you get back. This ensures that if you are exposed to malaria at the beginning or end of your trip, you are still adequately protected.

If you have some time, we at Malaria.com would be very grateful if you would take a minute or two to answer our malaria survey that we are conducting about our readers’ experiences with anti-malarials, and particularly their side effects.