Methods used to prevent the spread of disease in areas where malaria is endemic include:

• prophylactic drugs,
• mosquito eradication,
• and the prevention of mosquito bites.

There is currently no vaccine that will prevent malaria, but this is an active field of research.

Mosquito control

Efforts to eradicate malaria by eliminating mosquitoes have been successful in some areas, such as the United States and Europe. In some areas, the draining of wetland breeding grounds and better sanitation were adequate. The easiest, cheapest and most environment-friendly meathod to control malaria is by preventing the mosquito from laying eggs. This is done by eliminating sources of the water collections (puddles, wells)m where the eggs are laid. One can also use larvicides as a measures to destroy the larvae developing in the breeding sites. This can be done by either larvicidal chemicals (Themiphos and Fenthion are the two commonly used larvicidal agents) or by biological larvicides like fish (Guppy and Gambusia fish) and bacteria, or isectisides such as DDT.

Prophylactic drugs

Several drugs can be taken preventively daily or weekly, at a lower dose. Use of prophylactic drugs is seldom practical for full-time residents of malaria-endemic areas, and their use is usually restricted to short-term visitors and travelers to malarial regions.

Quinine was used starting in the seventeenth century as a prophylactic against malaria. The development of more effective alternatives such as quinacrine, chloroquine, and primaquine in the twentieth century reduced the reliance on quinine. Today, quinine is still used to treat chloroquine resistant Plasmodium falciparum, as well as severe and cerebral stages of malaria, but is not generally used for prophylaxis.

Modern drugs used preventively include:

• mefloquine (Lariam),
• doxycycline (available generically),
• and Malarone.