possible to buy malaria tablets in india?

maria

I am going to Kerala, Karnataka and Goa for 6 months and will be taking malaria tablets. I want to travel as light as possible and was wondering if anybody knows if you can buy the same malaria tablets over there as you can here? And roughly at what cost?
Any help much appreciated! Maria

wonderwomanusa

I hear that you cannot get Malarone in India yet. Doxycycline should be easy to get -- but 6 months is a long time to be taking an antibiotic.

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Anders

This does not have anything to do with the actual question, but I just saw this site
Malaria Situation in SEAR Countries

This map was interesting:
Annual Parasite Incidence (/1000) in India, 1987-97
Does anyone know if "Annual Parasite Incidence" is the number of people per thousand that gets malaria?

wonderwomanusa

I would certainly like to see updated info on this, but thanks for posting it.

mountaingirl

In Delhi you can buy imported Malaria pills......I bought some named Myleran (forgot where it was from)...in good chemists, you can find everything.
Otherwise you should get in touch with some organisation like the Red Cross which gives a list of doctors + hospitals with good amenities. otherwise you have me! :-)

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aether

i can't remember what sort of malaria meds i took... it was a pill that you take once a week and gives you really really messed up dreams the entire time you take them. anyhow, they cost something like $15/pill here in the states and i got them for around $1 in madras. i didn't need a prescription, just went to a pharmacy in spencer plaza and asked for the pills.

wonderwomanusa

Sounds like Lariam to me, but it's not that expensive ...... and even cheaper if you order it from the Canadian online pharmacies.

maria

have heard such reports on lariam before, not one that i want to subject myself to. when i've been to india before i've used avoclor and paludrine (not sure of brand name) one tablet each day and one once a week.

milkyway

I am leaving Canada on the 17 of November for Kerala for six months and have a perscription for Malarone which is really expensive. ($5 per day) I didn't really want to take the full six month perscription with me. I know of two other malari pills but none that I want to subject myself to. Doxycline (increases sucseptibility to sunburn and yeast infections...no thanks) and Larium (previously discussed and sometimes causes depression for people prone to it).

Are there any other pills I can buy in India that would be cheaper and have less nasty side effects?

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The Aijo

Right,

Can someone give some advice to me straight? Am going away in three weeks for 8 months travelling in india and SE Asia (starting in India). I still am really confused about malaria tablets and have got conflicting answers from everyone, (from reading this site, from talking to our GP and from mates away travelling at the moment). Can anyone give me their educated view on the following (without the qualification "..but i'm not a GP and wouldnt rely on my info alone)

a) Should we take malaria tabs for whole 8 months (most of my mates took for 2 or 3 days, got violently ill and decided was no way to spend time on travels and just took precautions like mozzie net, repellant and coils).

b) Are tabs necessary for most parts of India - from what i read they arent (we will be spending 2 months travelling north from calcutta to drajeeling, with whistle stop tour of nepal, down into Varanassi, across to delhi making our way down to Goa for Christmas and new year)

concoran

Dont take any pills to India. India has a substantially large pharmaceutical industry. A visit to a doctor + one month's supply of pills should not exceed US$5.

turlapati

the parasite map is not related to malaria. Diffrenet stuff all together.

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susan turlapati

halema

RE Malaria

I will be heading out in January and leaving mid February. I have been told by many that Malaria is not a problem in North India in winter and that l should just stick to insect repellent with at least 50% DEET, wear long sleeves , light clothes (does it make much of a difference, whether your clothes are light or dark?), avoid early evenings (l think?), if l follow these precautions l should have no problems? But now l'm thinking l should take Malaria tabs, which l will buy them in India/Nepal. I will be in Kathmandu and then Varanasi, so does anyone know a place where l can buy Malaria tabs that l only have to take once a week and which are effective for the region?

Cheers

Tomi

I personally feel that taking too many of these precautions can ruin your pleasure. Are you going to be worrying about long sleeves, color of clothing, a stinky repellent, having the windows closed while you read, not taking evening walks, staying away from stagnant water (good luck here), etc., all in hot weather? I found no way to keep mosquitoes at bay, no matter what I did. I took malaria pills and bought all my medications in India, cheap. That's my personal feeling. But then again, I choose to take cholesterol medication so that I can eat anything I like. To me quality of life involves a certain freedom to do what you want wityhout worrying all the time about not doing this, not doing that.

milkyway

Can anybody give names of malaria pills that they had bought in India with very low side effects. (i.e. Malarone)