If you're pregnant, getting malaria can be really serious, even life-threatening.

Malaria during pregnancy can lead to miscarriage, stillbirth, or your baby being born too early.

If you absolutely have to travel to a malaria-risk area, make sure you protect yourself by avoiding mosquito bites and taking the right antimalarial medicines correctly.

There are safe antimalarial medicines for pregnant or breastfeeding women. Just chat with a health professional to figure out what's best for you.

Protecting kids from malaria is crucial since they are particularly at risk from serious malaria.

Parents are therefore advised to avoid taking infants and children to places with malaria

If you have to travel with kids make sure that they are protected from mosquito bites and that they are on antimalarial medicine. 

Check with a doctor, nurse or pharmacist about the right malaria pills for where you're going that are suitable for children.

Watch kids closely when they take their medication and stick to the dose – too much can be bad. 

Mixing the medicine with tasty food might help little kids take it.

 Just remember, no malaria pill works perfectly, so still try to avoid mosquito bites.

Itching is a common side effect of Chloroquine especially among Black African people, this can be controlled by antihistamines and is not because of an allergy.

Chloroquine is no longer recommended to treat Malaria in Africa because the parasite has become resistant.

Even if chloroquine made you itchy, you can still take other antimalarials.

It is very important to tell the health professional responsible for giving you your malaria medicine your full medical history and any previous negative experiences with malaria prevention tablets.

 If one drug isn't suitable for you, another will be!

Herbal or homoeopathic medicines do not prevent malaria and should not be relied on instead of antimalarial tablets and other bite prevention methods.

Antimalarials can be affordable, with some malaria tablets costing as little as £15 for a 2 week trip. Some malaria tablets also only need to be taken once a week.

A lot of people worry about side effects from anti-malarials or report side effects, and sometimes that stops them from taking them or finishing the full course. 

Here's a quick rundown of the most common side effects:

• Doxycycline: Some people get more easily sunburned (around 3%) or get a rash after a bit of sun. It can also cause heartburn, but that's easily fixed by taking it with food and staying upright for a couple of hours. Thrush is another possible side effect.

• Lariam (mefloquine): This one can sometimes cause dizziness, headaches, trouble sleeping, hallucinations, or anxiety. If someone has a history of mental health issues, they should avoid Lariam.

• Malarone / Maloff Protect (atovaquone/proguanil): This medication generally has very few side effects. Some people might get a headache or an upset stomach, but that's not very common.

It is very important to tell the health professional responsible for giving you your malaria medicine your full medical history and any previous negative experiences with malaria prevention tablets.

 If one drug isn't suitable for you, another will be!

While it's true that a few people might have mild side effects from anti-malarials,  most people don't experience any issues at all. 

Major side effects from malaria prevention medicine are unusual.

Remember that you can get bitten by a mosquito carrying malaria as soon as you land in Africa! 

It’s important to start taking malaria prevention medicine before your trip so your body has enough of the medicine in your system to protect you— how early depends on the medicine. 

Buying antimalarials locally in Africa can be risky because they may be fake or not work well. To stay safe, get your malaria tablets from a trusted place like a travel clinic, pharmacy, or your GP before you travel. 

Some people also end up taking antimalarials that are meant for treatment as prevention, this increases the chances of resistance building up to these medicines, which makes them less effective for treating malaria.