Poll: Malaria Meds

March1

If you were traveling all around India for seven months, What would you do to protect yourself from Malaria?

A) Take medication the whole time - I am not risking it!
B) Mitigate your risk by taking meds only in the most high risk areas
C) Not take any meds for such a long period - too harsh on the system! Deet it up: Bug spray only.
D) I would consult a local doctor in India but not bring meds.
E) Karma will protect me: Nothing.

dhans

Malaria can be lethal. Protect yourself!

Hans

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tsargood

Yes, malaria can be lethal. But taking meds for that long could have serious side effects, not to mention the unstable mental state that Larium can cause. Deet, long sleves and trousers when the sun gets low and a mozzie net over the bed is the way to do it. Prevention is the key!

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dani

There is no reason one should take the meds in the south (or in the Himalayas I guess).
But in the north I'd definitely take the meds, even for seven months.
If you get strongly affected by side effects, you can always stop taking it, but I would not decide against taking it just because of the fear that it might have side effects.
(the side effects of malaria are far stronger than the ones of the med )

tsargood

The side effects vary from person to person. My experience with Lariam was horrific to say the least! I would have used Doxycycline but I was on the road for 2 years and this antibiotic is only effective for up to 3 months? From my experience in various countries where Malaria is a threat, I still say deet/covering up is the best method. One thing with the deet, it must have at least 75% deet in the product (army strength), although when it is this strong you cannot put it directly on the skin. I once put it on my sandals and they melted! Absorbent arm and ankle bands can be used to put the deet on and a small amount in with your washing permeates your clothes with it.

Dr.Barai

unless u develop cerebral malaria its unlikely to be lethal.

XRumer_OK

Hello from XRumer )
Anybody home?

Jeroen

this poll when it shows on the IndiaMike front page does not mention the word 'malaria' at all... perhaps change that to make it less unreliable

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Nick-H

True --- I'll take a look

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Satyagraha

I've stopped taking my malaria meds as it was causing me serious helath problems. I had been taking them for several months.
I had gastritis, in the form of severe discomfort when digesting food, constipation and a general weakness and dizzyness.
I saw several doctors, none of which suspected the malaria pills, i was misdiagnosed several times and then some doctors just gave me medication for the symtoms of gastritis.
I went to a doctor here and had a ultrasound scan, it showed that there has been some damage to my liver.
I don't think it is long-term but he adivised that i stopped taking the malaria pills NOW and be very careful about what i eat as it has weakened by digestive system. So i stopped and i'm not eating any fatty foods, acidic foods or drinking alcohol. I'm currently in Kerala and there is no risk of malaria here at present so i feel relatively safe. FYI the medication was Chloroquine+Proguanil which is recommended in the UK.

SANJAY_DEL

It would be best to consult a specialist physician in India and take malaria prophylaxis as per his advice. Anti malarial drugs are available here and much cheaper that in the West, so there is no need to carry medicines from your home country.

machadinha

I haven't taken anti-malarials so far for my own reasons, but if I were to take them I'd arrange it at home. Arriving in India can be confusing enough without seeing some doctor that you don't know.

[btw Satyagraha!!! You're hanging in there then man?!!
Sounds like you had some crazy stuff coming your way ]

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freenote

It would apear that the medical authority's in the U.K are now changing there advise . This is from The Hospital for Tropical Diseases ,U.K .
"Although there is always a risk of contracting malaria when visiting areas where the disease is endemic,the hospital for Tropical Diseases only recomends prophylaxis when the disease risk is considered to be greater then the risk of taking the preventative medication . So,malaria should always be suspected in travellers suffering fever after return from an endemec area "
So for myself a deet based product and cover up is the way to go . Prevention is the key !!!

machadinha

Not all that encouraging do you think? Good advice actually, many doctors will not be aware of this, be sure to bring up you've been to the tropics even months or possibly years after the fact.

But other than that it's down to the same old some do, some don't I guess. A search on "malaria" on this site throws up 18 pages of different threads on the subject, and no I haven't read them.

Oh and did we say it's potentially fatal?

Nick-H

Didn't you say in another post somewhere that it is necessary to take the meds for some time before going and after getting back?

Anyway, at least for some that is the case, so I'm rather surprised to hear a doctor suggesting to wait until arrival.

Given human nature it probably wouldn't get done on day one, maybe not on day two and might be forgotten about by day three!

Some do, some don't --- but if the decision is to take something, then I suggest not waiting until you get here.

Satyagraha--- bad experience. Hope you are better soon.