New guidelines for the prevention of imported malaria in France.

Whereas all travelers should be strongly encouraged to take measures to protect themselves against mosquito bites (repellents, insecticide-treated mosquito nets, etc.), prescriptions for chemoprophylaxis should take into account the benefit-risk ratio due to the potentially serious adverse effects. For the tropical regions of Asia and America where the overall risk of contracting malaria is very low (<1/100,000), the risk generally outweighs the benefit and chemoprophylaxis is not justified for typical tourist and business trips (nights spent in urban areas where there is practically no transmission), i.e. the great majority of travelers. On the contrary, in sub-Saharan Africa where the risk of contracting malaria is 1000-fold higher, chemoprophylaxis is nearly always recommended, including long-term preventive treatment if justified for prolonged stays (expatriates).