Holiday time is coming up and people's thoughts are heading in the direction of travel to exotic locations. Unfortunately, some of those exotic (and not so exotic) locations come with unpleasant consequences. An article in this week's edition of The Lancet shows that the risk of acquiring malaria can be substantially reduced by using a combination of insect repellents and incecticide treated bed nets in areas where the mosquitos feed in the early evening. How many people think about doing that when they travel to malarial areas - as well as taking anti-malarial prophylaxis? It's all too easy to assume that simply taking the drugs will protect you, when malarial parasites are often resistant to the commonly used drugs, or at least not as susceptible as they should be, so protecting against being bitten is crucial. And don't assume that you are safe in a city either. Some friends who are working in Lagos at the moment have gone down with malaria, after making that assumption! And one final word on going to malarial areas - if you are pregnant, or have small children, just don't - it's not worth the risk.
Bridget Farham, https://www.bizcommunity.com