**3. Guidelines for the treatment of malaria**

Ideally, treatment of malaria should not be initiated until the diagnosis has been established by laboratory testing. Therefore, without prior laboratory testing to confirm the presence of the parasite, treatment, should only be reserved for extreme circumstances, such as strong clinical suspicion of severe disease in a setting where there are no prompt laboratory services to confirm a diagnosis. The following factors should act as a guide in the treatment of malaria:


Treatment of malaria is dependents on the species responsible for the malaria, as well as on the seriousness of the disease. The World Health Organization's protocols for the treatment of malaria provides recommendations on topics such as:

