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Foreign Office new alert for anyone booked to go to 11 countries after UK traveller deaths - list

The FO-backed Travel Health Pro site has completed new review and warned of new high levels of Brits returning with disease

[Fever is one of the symptoms of malaria, as health officials issued a new warning to UK travellers]

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Fever is one of the symptoms of malaria, as health officials issued a new warning to UK travellers(Image: Getty)

Officials have issued a new list of countries people need to be wary of after UK deaths caused by a disease. The Travel Health Pro site, which is backed by the UKs Foreign Office said people need to take precautions at these 13 locations.

The United Kingdom Health Security Agency (UKHSA) issued new guidance this summer on how to avoid getting malaria. Travel Health Pro added: Each year several UK travellers die from malaria after visiting malaria risk countries, with most travellers who catch malaria reporting travel to Africa. To read the guidance click here.

2,004 imported malaria cases were reported in the UK in 2023 (returning to pre-pandemic levels), up from 1,369 in 2022

Most affected individuals had traveled to Africa, particularly11 visiting friends and relatives.

Travel Health Pro said this week it has completed a review and has now published new risk maps for the key countries:

• Belize
• Botswana
• Dominican Republic
• Eswatini
• French Guiana
• India
• Myanmar
• Namibia
• Papua New Guinea
• Saudi Arabia
• South Africa
• South Korea
• Sudan

Malaria is a serious febrile illness due to infection of red blood cells with a parasite called Plasmodium and is transmitted by mosquitoes.

Clinical symptoms and signs of malaria

(These symptoms and signs are taken from the UKMEAG malaria treatment guidelines.)

Non-specific symptoms of malaria:

• fever, sweats or chills
• malaise (vague discomfort)
• myalgia (muscle pain, tenderness)
• diarrhoea
• cough

Major features of severe or complicated falciparum malaria in adults:

• impaired consciousness or seizures
• renal impairment (oliguria less than 0.4 millilitre per kilogram (ml/kg) bodyweight per hour or creatinine more than 265 micromoles per litre (mol/l))
• acidosis (pH less than 7.3)
• hypoglycaemia (less than 2.2 mmol/l)
• pulmonary oedema or acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS)
• spontaneous bleeding or disseminated intravascular coagulation
• shock (algid malaria)
• haemoglobinuria (without G6PD deficiency)

Travel Health Pro added: All travellers visiting areas where malaria occurs are at risk of acquiring the disease, particularly migrants to the UK who were born in malaria risk areas and return to visit friends and relatives in their country of birth. Any immunity travellers may have acquired in their country of origin wanes rapidly on migration to a country with no risk of malaria; their UK-born children will have no protection from the disease. Certain travellers are at increased risk of severe disease such as: pregnant women, those with an absent or poorly functioning spleen, children and older travellers.

In terms of prevention it added: Travellers should follow insect bite avoidance advice, including covering up with loosely fitting clothes, ideally long sleeves, long trousers and socks if out of doors. This helps to reduce biting mosquitoes access to skin.

All travellers should be aware of the signs and symptoms of malaria and should be advised to seek immediate medical attention if these occur either whilst abroad or up to a year after their return. They should also let the health professional know they have visited a malaria risk area.

No regimen is 100% effective, but a combination of preventive measures will give significant protection against the potentially severe consequences of malaria.

Choice of malaria prevention tablets depends on the malaria species common in the area to be visited and whether there is resistance to any of the available drugs. Certain drugs may not be suitable for certain individuals due to existing medical problems or interactions with their regular medication.

For more information click here.

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