Pharmaceutical fix-a-form labels for malaria drugs may be in demand after it was found that cases of the disease have shot up in the UK.

According to the Health Protection Agency (HPA), there has been a 30 per cent rise in two years, with 1,761 cases in 2010 and 1,370 in 2008.

Some 85 per cent came as a result of people heading to tropical destinations to visit friends and family and many thought they would be immune to malaria because they had previously lived in the destination country.

HPA representative Dr Jane Jones said: "Malaria is a potentially deadly disease but is almost completely preventable."

The organisation recommended getting anti-malaria pills from a doctor before going abroad to countries where the disease is rife.

Jo Yirrel, an ambassador for Malaria Hotspots, also recently warned Britons to take their prescribed anti-malaria medication and use precautions such as mosquito repellent to keep the disease at bay.

Denny Bros Ltd, 27 April 2011