Travel websites offering late deals to destinations where malaria is a risk should carry clear warnings, say experts.The call comes from doctors who had to treat three patients in a week, all of them UK citizens who had returned from "winter sun" holidays to The Gambia.
All three patients, in their 40s and 50s, had booked their holidays with the same travel website.
None had sought proper medical advice before travelling.
If they had, they would have been told that malaria is endemic in the Western African country they were travelling to and advised of the need to take appropriate precautions.
Simple measures like covering up the skin by wearing long-sleeved shirts and trousers and using insect repellent, as well as taking malaria prevention tablets, can help avoid infection with the parasite that causes the disease that is transmitted by mosquito bites.
The three patients that the doctors at the James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough treated all had the most serious form of malaria - falciparum malaria.
"And as well as doing your own research about the area you will be travelling to, make sure you leave yourself enough time to see a doctor, either your own GP or one at a travel clinic, for advice," he said.
A spokeswoman from Abta said most travel websites did carry information about the risks of malaria, but that this was not always "upfront".
She said there was also an onus on the consumer to check properly for advice.
"When people are in a hurry not everybody will look in true depth and do all the research they need to.
"We recommend travellers follow Foreign Office advice," she said.
via bbc.co.uk
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