Mums/ Dads- advice on kids and anti-malarials

Red1973

Hi,

Just wondering what decision all the Indiaphiles who are parents made regarding your children and anti-malarials. We are planning to take our daughter to India for the second time in January,06. I CAN"T WAIT!!!! She will be 2.5. The plan is to go to Mumbai, Karnataka and Kerala (Kochi area). When she was 18 months we did the North and none of us took any antimalarials(it was February). This time, being that we are in the South, I am weary to tempt fate a second time.

So, I would love to hear what you decided to do with your children.

1.Did you give your children antimalarials?
2.Which part of India were you in?
3.What time of year was it?
4.If yes, which antimalarial? Any side effects?
5. For those who chose not to administer antimalarials, did this impact on the places you chose to visit? (wondering this because, friends who recently moved to Bangalore with 2 small chn from here in Hong Kong said they wouldn't bother with antimalarials at that time of year if we weren't near water. So we could cancel the Kerala plans I guess

Ok, thanks for your help.

If you have any ideas for great, kid-friendly accommodation in Mysore, Nilgiri Hills, Kochi or pretty much anywhere in either of these two states that'd be great too!

Cheers!!!


BTW, I know this topic is discussed a lot but when I did a search for kids and malaria dozens of pages of threads came up- after reading through 4 pages I got a bit overwhelmed so I apologise if I'm doubling up!

indira

So, I would love to hear what you decided to do with your children.

1.Did you give your children antimalarials?
NO; HAVE 3 KIDS WHO HAVE BEEN TRAVELLING WITH ME
2.Which part of India were you in?
GOA; MUMBAI; HYDERABAD; CALCUTTA; SIKKIM
3.What time of year was it?
JULY : AUGUST
4.If yes, which antimalarial? Any side effects?
DINT GIVE MY KIDS ANY ANTIMALARIAL:::

What i did with my kids was, dint allow them to be out of the house after 18.00 hrs.....if they did i rubbed some Odomous on their body....

Red1973

That's really helpful Indira!! Thanks!! Would love to avoid the whole antimalarial thing if I could!

Can I ask what is Odomous?

Thanks again. Anyone else? (I realise the malaria debate gets really old!)

indira

Can I ask what is Odomous?

Its an anti mosquito repellent cream.....best, buy it when in India...it sure helped me and my kids.

Gayamom

Hi there,

There were a couple of threads on this topic in September, posted by cp5. You might look in the Punjab and Haryana sub-forum for a thread titled "Malaria and Child." I posted my thoughts there.

Cheers - GM

girlfromvenus

check out this one: http://www.blueturtlegroup.com/

after long research on natural malaria prevention, I have found those and as an alternative medicine supporter it sounds like the best solution for me, and it is of course childsafe !
after e-mail inquiry I have found out that the product is not available in India, so you must order it.

dhans

I always start with the disclaimer; never give medical advice if you are not a qualified doctor

Still, as malaria may kill you we were advised to give our kids (5 and 3) paludrine (proguanilhydrochloride) when we go to India in december.

And naturally take all the necessary measures (klamboo, deet (20% for kids) etc...

Have fun,

Hans

__________________

Tips for trips to India with (young) children: India with kids
Stories about our travels in India: Journal

Anders

What study did you use to determine that it was effective and safe?

girlfromvenus

there are many references of african tour operators/safari guides and my intuition never fails me

dhans

The World Health Organization is the United Nations specialized agency for health. It was established on 7 April 1948. WHO's objective, as set out in its Constitution, is the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of health. Health is defined in WHO's Constitution as a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.

Their travel advice can be found at:

www.who.int/ith/en/

Hans

Richmar

Hi Hans,

Could you give me some more tips on these medications. I am going with my kids (2 & 3 yrs)to India in Dec. Are these over the counter drugs or do I need to go to the doc for a prescription.

Thanks

Callous

We have been to India twice this year with our children[5,10,11,13 and 14].We did not take any antimalarials.First time in Dec/Jan ,2nd in June/July.I must admit we did not encounter many mozzies on our first trip apart from at Gaya at the train st.2nd visit,same again though saw a few in Srinigar, Kashmir.We covered up,took DEET with us but did not use it very much.I guess there will be more mozzies down sth,have a wonderful time.

dhans

Allthough paludrine - proguanilhydrochloride is available over the counter in India (as long as you pay almost anything is, exept things like morphine), I would always advise you to go to your GP or as travel clinic and ask their opinion.

For your and your doctors information I attached the link to the WHO information on malaria.

http://whqlibdoc.who.int/publication...0364_chap7.pdf

Hans

Nick-H

a paediatrician who knows tropical medicine? That would be good.

Seriously, see a specialist in child medicine; not a general doc who might guess that if a whole pill is good for you then 1/8 might not harm your child.

__________________
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Just one member of the IndiaMike Mod Team

dhans

OK, Nick.

It is just how far you trust your family doctor and on what information he bases his advice (in my view doctors advise and don't decide). My information came from the company that does preventive health for the Netherlands department of foreign affairs. They base their advise on WHO advice. Follow the link and see what the WHO advises. Our peditrician (yep, we had to go there for the innocumations anyhow) was happy to follow that advice and write the recipe.

(I think i will stop discussing medical items from now on, it gives too much headaches )

Hans