Mr Malaria

Wullah

Sorry for making you mad Nick-H. Didnt you saw my smiling face?
I think that things are not so scary if you can joke about it, dont you?
And yes malaria is dead serious.

Ikuru

I know like 10 people whove been to India some of them plenty of times, most of them never bothering with this pills, from this people there is one who think they might have had some mild form of Malaria once that went away eventually (shes all well now anyhow).

I think most people I met on the road wasnt taking no pills neither...

Anyhow some of this people went way more of the beaten track that I ever did or will...

I had a doctor who told me I did not need to worry so much about Malaria going to touristy places in India...

Anyhow.

This statistics are good enough for me to make my desicions uppon.
Anyhow the Poll race on this thread is verry Even Steven right now allthough, the people who are saying No to pills are on top are a little on the lead...

Interesting huh?

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http://www.ikuru.se My art.

Nick-H

Woops! Nothing I like better than a good joke about a serious subject. Sorry Wullah

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Just one member of the IndiaMike Mod Team

amogasiddhi

I wonder if there could be a destiny pill? If we destiny-free westerners could be convinced that by simply having enough belief in something as unproveable as God or by taking a destiny pill that we would be somehow protected from accidents and disease, what a wonderful world it would beeee.....it would be as chaotic as rush hour in Raipur.
Come to think of it, i didn't take anything while I was in India and i'm fine so that's proof of the existence of destiny.....OOOooooooooh....sm oke anyone?

Wanderer22

I seem to remember that smoke from a camp fire oft times kept mossies at bay. Smoke from other substances will probably work as well???

If you run out of DEET and want to keep mosquitos away try this stuff. You might have to get a dog to keep the cats away though. Shouldn't be a problem as India seems to have an ample supply of strays. Have not tried catnip myself, so can't vouch for its effectiveness.

W22

DoDi

I just returned from my first trip to India (Kerala and Tamil Nadu) where I spent a month. I took doxycycline pills for malaria and had no ill effect.

The thing that was interesting was that I never once got 'delhi belly' or had those kind of 'digestive' problems that people say everyone goes through at least for a day or so. There's only 2 reasons I can think of... either it's because most of what I ate and drank was home cooking or at restaurants and road side stands I was taken to by local friends who would know what to avoid.. or on the other hand it's because the doxy also helps prevent gut problems. Of course it could also be that the fear about getting sick from food in India is overstated. I'm not sure what the answer is.

Ikuru

Statistics are basicly fiction...

Do You know anyone who had Malaria?

Have you Seen malaria?

Don´t belive all that you read.

dani

Yeah sure, and if you don't see the moon, you belief it doesn't exist...

Casey

While I was in Laos there was a big move to education the population about malaria and the breeding of mosquitoes in stagnant water. There was no mention of immunity, just the dangers of contracting malaria and some chilling statistics. I would hasten a guess that statistics probably underestimate the cases of malaria because in many areas where it is prevalent people do not necessarily have access to health care, let alone health care that would report statistics.

I have known two people who have contracted malaria while travelling. Not pleasant stories from either of them. Malaria isn't something concocted by greedy pharmaceutical companies (although access to treatment is another issue); people who live in poor areas, with weakened immune systems, probably do not have access to medication. This is my opinion that was formed after a couple of medical anthropology courses. So, while not completely off the top of my head, not exactly an based on recent epidemiology.

Closer to the question asked, I began taking mefloquin and got sick and kooky, switched to Doxycycline while in India and then stopped taking them shortly after my return. The only side effect from the doxy was nice skin, severe constipation (nasty 50 hour train ride after glugging some rancid castor oil 2 days previous), and the need to plaster sunscreen all over my body. Other times I began taking meds and stopped and just was careful not to get bit as there were not many mosquitoes around. This trip I will probably start off taking Doxy and then see how good I am at preventing the bites. The buggers itch like hell, regardless, and Denque fever is not particularly fun either! Overall, a bit of prevention but no need for paranoia