What should you know about resistant malaria?

Resistance can vary by malaria parasite, medicine and travel region. Symptoms may continue or return after treatment, but symptoms alone cannot show whether resistance is present. Fever, chills, sweating, headache, muscle aches, weakness or stomach upset after travel to a malaria area need medical assessment. Malaria can worsen quickly and may affect the brain, blood, kidneys or breathing, so do not wait for symptoms to become severe.

Tell the clinician where you travelled, when you returned, any prevention medicine used, the exact treatment taken and whether doses were missed or vomited. A blood test can identify malaria and help guide follow-up testing. Take the prescribed course exactly as directed, avoid sharing medicines and report worsening symptoms or side effects. Keep fluids down if possible and use a travel health consultation before future trips to review prevention options.

Seek same-day medical care for fever or chills after travel in a malaria-risk area, even if you took prevention medicine. Go to emergency care for confusion, fainting, seizures, severe weakness, breathing difficulty, repeated vomiting, yellowing of the eyes or inability to drink. A returning fever after treatment also needs prompt reassessment rather than self-treatment.

Ask which parasite was found, whether repeat blood tests are needed, how resistance affects the medicine selected, and what symptoms require emergency help. For later travel, ask which malaria prophylaxis suits the destination, your health and other medicines.