Malaria is a serious and sometimes fatal disease caused by a parasite that commonly infects a certain type of mosquito which feeds on humans. It can take just 1 bite to get it. However, Malaria is not spread from person to person like a cold or the flu, and it cannot be sexually transmitted. You cannot get malaria from casual contact with malaria-infected people, such as sitting next to someone who has malaria.

The infection is very common in certain parts of the world.

It’s found in tropical regions, including:

• large areas of Africa and Asia
• Central and South America
• Dominican Republic and Haiti
• parts of the Middle East
• some Pacific islands

Malaria can be hard to spot, but symptoms include:

• a high temperature, sweats and chills
• headaches and feeling confused
• feeling very tired and sleepy (especially in children)
• feeling and being sick, tummy pain and diarrhoea
• loss of appetite
• muscle pains
• yellow skin or whites of the eyes
• a sore throat, cough and difficulty breathing

These symptoms usually appear between 7 and 18 days after you’ve been bitten by an infected mosquito.

But sometimes you may not have symptoms for months after travel, and rarely years.

If your test is positive that would indicate that we have detected Malaria in your blood.

If your test is negative that would indicate that we have not detected Malaria in your blood.