Britons touring S Asia, Africa at risk of contracting Malaria

London, May 15 (UNI) Travel health experts have warned Britons to take extra care while visiting countries like India, Sri Lanka and Gambia as it puts them at risk of contracting malaria.

According to the Association of British Travel Agents, there were 4.7 million visits to countries, where there is a risk of contracting the potentially fatal disease, by Britons last year, compared to less than half that number - 1.9 million - in 1995. The rise has been fuelled by the increasing popularity of the destinations and by the availabilty of cheap, last-minute deals.

However, in the last three months of 2005, 27 travellers contracted malaria during visits to Gambia alone. Three of them died, while several others underwent treatment in the intensive care. Urging British travellers to prepare properly for their holidays, Frances Tuke, of Abta, said, ''If you do not take proper precautions you are playing Russian roulette with your life. Just take that little bit of extra time to plan and think about it - your life is worth it.'' Joanne Yirrell's 20-year-old son, Harry, died last year from a deadly strain of the disease after a visit to Ghana. He took anti-malarials for the first part of his trip, but later gave them away to local children. ''As a fit and healthy young man he believed that they needed them more than he did - but it cost him his life,'' his mother said, on the eve of this year's Malaria Awareness Week.

Almost 2,000 British travellers return home with malaria every year, and on average there are nine deaths. The most deadly form of the disease now accounts for 74 per cent of British cases.

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