Malaria

Supporting Information

Malaria should be suspected if anyone in the family has a fever, or if young children refuse to eat or have vomiting, drowsiness or fits.

A child with a fever believed to be caused by malaria needs to be given immediate antimalarial treatment as recommended by a health worker. If children with a malarial fever are not treated within a day, they might die. A health worker can advise on what type of treatment is best and how long it should continue.

A child with malaria needs to take the full course of treatment, even if the fever disappears rapidly. If the treatment is not completed, the malaria could become more severe and difficult to cure.

If the malaria symptoms continue after treatment, the child should be taken to a health centre or hospital for help. The problem may be:

• the child is not receiving enough medicine
• the child has an illness other than malaria
• the malaria is resistant to the medicine, and another medicine is needed.

Children with a fever should be kept cool for as long as the fever persists by:

• sponging or bathing with cool (not cold) water
• covering the child with only a few clothes or one blanket.