RESEARCH a a

Full list of author information is available at the end of the articleBackground Most cases of imported malaria in high-income coun-tries affect first or second generation migrants who have returned from ‘visiting friends and relatives ’ (VFRs) in malaria-endemic countries [1]. In the UK, the majority of infections occur in the London area among UK resi-dents of African origin who travel to Africa as VFRs [2]. London is home to large Nigerian and Ghanaian com-munities and over 50 % of reported imported falciparum malaria infections were acquired in these two countries between 1987 and 2006 [2]. Effective malaria prevention measures such as chemoprophylaxis and the use of insecticide-treated mosquito nets (ITNs) are available and recommended by the UK’s Health Protection Agency for people travelling from the UK to malaria-endemic areas [3], but there is little understanding of the factors that en- * Correspondence