A passage to India has long involved taking tablets to ward off malaria – but travellers to the subcontinent are being advised to forget the pills. Instead, they should focus on avoiding bites.
The recommendation comes from an organisation known as TropMedEurop, an electronic network of infectious disease specialists. Researchers analysed all the malaria cases imported into eight European countries from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka between 1999 and 2004. Even though malaria remains a hazard in the subcontinent, the study concluded that, for the average holidaymaker, the dangers from taking prophylactic drugs rated higher than the risk of disease.
