Newbie asking dumb question...

Harold

Hi folks! I apologize in advance if this has all been covered somewhere else. If so, would someone please point me in the right direction?

I manage technical operations for a major consumer electronics corporation based in Silicon Valley (San Francisco Bay Area). Although I have lived in China in the past and traveled recently to Tokyo, I suddenly find myself having to travel to Hyderabad, India for 8 days in April. I will be staying at what I'm told is a terrific hotel (Taj Krishna) and will only spend my days at a data/call center, no socializing or travel outside of these two places. (Yes, I'm an incredibly boring person, but that's not germane to this thread...) Anyway, I had to get Tetanus and Polio immunizations and I'll be adding Hep A next week as well so I'm done with shots, but here comes my dumb question (finally...)

I was prescribed Malaria pills (Malarone) but the side effects I've been reading about have me pretty concerned. Although I'm very healthy and usually don't have any side effects from your basic OTC or prescribed medications, the nausea and vomiting potential side effects of these Malaria pills have me questioning whether I want to take them at all. I'm about a 10 on the WussOmeter scale when it comes to being stomach sick (I'll take a severe headache, broken arm, loss of limb et cetera over being nauseous and vomiting any day...) and when I mentioned to a colleague my fears about this he said, "Are you nuts? You're staying in a 5 star hotel, spending all day in a data center, then returning back to the hotel at night. On the 8th day you're coming home. You don't even NEED to take any Malaria pills!"

Now then, knowing this guy is an electrical engineer and not a physician hardly gives him any credibility in my book (he's a PhD too and you KNOW how some of those folks can be...) But I digress---would any one of you battle-scarred, grey-haired veterans of travel to Hyderabad please give me any advice as to whether or not you think I really need to take these Malaria pills for this kind of trip? [Please note, I have waived all rights to legal discourse should I take your advice and subsequently find myself deceased at the end of this trip.]

I'm genuinely appreciative of any thoughts any of you might have along these lines, and sorry for the intrusion. ---Harold

skell

How about just covering all exposed areas with deet and drinking lots of gin and tonic?

NewNoiz

LOL
It won't be necessary to take Malarone as an prophylaxis for your journey. German health authorities say it's only advisable to take anti malaria pills (to India) with you for an (eventual) emergency treatment. Since the incubation time for malaria is 7 days IF you would get sick on the 8th day I'm sure your hotel will quickly arrange a doctor for you.

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michep2

I have traveled to India for 2 weeks for work also and will be traveling again in April. I am filling my prescription for Malerone again. I took it the first time with no side effects. This is taken 2 days before departing, take one pill a day while you are in India and each day for one week after you leave. I wore deet everyday, but still was bitten by mosquitos. My pills are covered by insurance, no cost to me, why take a chance? Maybe I'm overly cautious, I would take them if I were you.

bijapuri

that time of year (dry season) thre are very few mozzies in H-bad, and none inside that hotel. Hot as hell outside tho

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soulfood

Oh, have you considered air shipping a 100 litre mineral water drum for use during your stay? Other than mosquitos everyhere you go, we don't have clean water here as well. And while you're at it, carry adequate quantity of pollution masks with you as air quality in Hyderabad is likely to be quite suspect.

Also, I'd advise you not to roam around the city and risk kidnapping. At least take taxis wherever you go instead of auto-rickshaws that were used by those two stupid geeks from the valley.

ps: btw, I'm a designer. what would I know?

Ikuru

The Malaria is not that easy nor common to catch, how manny do you know who got malaria?

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torryquine

Hi Harold,

Where did you read/hear that Malarone has bad side effects? That drug is marketed (at inflated prices) on it's reputation for having none! The nasty one is Lariam - avoid it!

I opted for Malarone as I have in the past taken very bad reactions to anti-malarials. I took it for over a month with no side-affects whatsoever. There are several good threads discussing Malaria on this site (check out Health & Wellbeing forum). See what others think, but IMHO Malaria is often underated as a risk by travellers. It may not be easy to catch, but who wants it? I would also advise that you took the Malarone.

Have a good trip

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mira4bai4

Well it might just be that it is the off season for mozzies in April, I heard that they were all buzzing east then.

Harold

Thank you for your words of advice; I appreciate the input. Just gotta love forums like this for getting lots of varying opinions on darn near anything.

Again, thanks to those who passed along some thoughts! ---Harold