What should you know about malaria and yellow fever?

Malaria is caused by parasites and has no routine vaccine used for all travellers; prevention may involve bite avoidance and prescribed prophylaxis. Yellow fever is caused by a virus, and vaccination may be advised or required for travel to certain destinations. Neither infection can be diagnosed from a mosquito bite or a fever alone. Their symptoms can overlap, including fever, headache, chills, and body aches.

Arrange a travel health consultation well before departure. Take your full itinerary, planned activities, medical conditions, pregnancy status, and medication list. Ask about yellow fever vaccination, malaria prevention, insect repellent, clothing, and sleeping arrangements. After travel, tell a clinician about every destination if you develop fever or feel unusually unwell; say when you returned and whether you used prevention measures.

Get urgent care for fever after travel in a region where either infection occurs, particularly if you become confused, faint, short of breath, unable to keep fluids down, or severely weak. Tell the service about travel before focusing on a local diagnosis. A vaccinated traveller can still have other infections, and malaria symptoms may appear after leaving the exposure area.

Ask which destinations in your itinerary carry malaria or yellow fever risk, whether vaccination is suitable for you, which malaria prevention is appropriate, and what symptoms require urgent review after returning.