Malaria

Firstly, you should check the status of malaria in the country you are visiting. It's also important to know that antimalarial drugs depend on the destination.

As with non-HIV-infected travellers, the choice of antimalarial prophylaxis depends on the destination, and is currently recommended for all travellers to sub-Saharan Africa (excluding parts of South Africa), the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, Central and South America, parts of Mexico, North Africa, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic.

Chloroquine, mefloquine, doxycycline, and the combination drug Malarone (atovaquone plus proguanil) are commonly used, with mefloquine the most frequently indicated prophylactic for travellers to areas where chloroquine-resistantmalaria is endemic.

Find out which drugs are recommended for individual countries.

Some malaria medications can interact with your HIV medications.

The use of anti-malaria drug mefloquine and HIV medication ritonavir together has been shown in studies to reduce the level of ritonavir in the body.

Efavirenz, Kaletra and boosted atazanavir have been shown to reduce levels of the anti-malaria drug atovaquone/proguanil.

However you should generally stick with standard antimalarial recommendations, unless particular adverse effects (such as nausea, diarrhoea, other gastro-intestinal problems, strange dreams, dizziness, insomnia, headaches, or, less commonly, seizures) are interfering with HIV drug adherence.

Taking both your anti-malarial and anti-HIV drugs as instructed and on time is of particular importance.

It's important to remember that malaria can be cured.

If you are infected with malaria, it can be treated with inexpensive drugs and can usually be cured.

The choice of drugs depends on whether the malaria in the region acquired has developed resistance to treatment.

Several anti-malarial drugs and combinations are available.