MALARIA ! !...Is it contageous?????...PANIC!

[ROSEgarden]

im a cm and one of my mindees has just come back from Africa(where she was born)..she had all the neccesary jabs and tabs before hand but has been quiet tired with achy neck etc since back..i told her mum and put it down to jet lag and straight back to school..mums just text to say not to pick her up theyve just been to doc and hes testing for malaria???!!..no knowledge of this will google also but am panicking as i have dd and 5 other children i cm for 3 of whom are babies!

no, it's not contagious. you get the pathogen from a mosquito bite.

malaria is not contagious
ie it cannot pass between humans

It's spread my mosquito bites so unless you have some mosquitos in your house, it should be ok.

No it is not contagious. It is caused by being bitten by infected mosquito.

Malaria is transferred by certain types of mosquitos. Those types of mosquitos are not found in the UK.

Do not worry, you are not at risk.

Definitely not contagious. Requires the mosquito vector to transfer the parasite between people. Incubation can take weeks before the infection takes hold.
None of your mindees could catch it from the child who may have it. Impossible.

She should have continued taking tablets for a couple of weeks after she returned - although they are not 100% reliable.

Hope she's OK!

Phew thanks all of you, sorry to be so dim, just had no knowledge of it at all and one of my babies is very poorly right now with tummy bug so i put two and two together and made 65..just hope mindee will be ok now?.
is it something that can be treated quickly?, how ill could it make her?

not sure if she still was taking tabs??, but i knew she was taking them before she went?

It does depend on the type of malaria - I think you can have milder and more serious cases.

The tablets are not 100% reliable as some malarial strains are becoming resistent.

so would the tiredness and achy neck be a normal sign???

They're probably checking her because she's been exposed to malaria so it could be that and they want to rule it out.

It doesn't mean that it is malaria. Tired and achy neck could be loads of different things, and after a long haul flight, it's probably just a bug she picked up from someone else on the plane.

Agree that it is not contagious.
The tablets only protect against the most common strains of malaria. Like all diseases it has many strains and is always changing.
If it is a severe kind then it can stay in your system forever and flare up every now and then ... but this is a severe kind and is very rare.
Hope that it is not malaria and she is better soon.

As others say, it's not contagious. If the child does have malaria it can be treated either with another type of anti-malarial, or another new treatment which is very effective.

Typical symptoms of malaria are basically flu-like, sometimes with added diarrhoea, nausea and vomiting. If it's confirmed as malaria and is benign malaria they can cure it within a few days, but she may be left feeling a bit wiped out for a while. Malignant malaria is rare, but more serious and can lead to things like liver failure, nervous system damage and even death. It's also more challenging to treat (a friend of DH's had this kind and soe liver problems a few years back).

They'll need to check a blood sample to see if she does have malaria it could be that, or it could just be flu. If it is malaria, it's not contagious but if it turns out to be flu then it will be.

bit worried now as text mum yesterday AND this morn to ask how mindee was and had NOTHING back??..even if no credit she ALWAYS rings from home??