what is best for malaria?

belleshell

hi all, im off to india in early may for about 6months, and im looking into anti-malaria/ malaria treatment. ill cover up and all that. im a bit worried cause im on anti depressents/epilepsy drugs, and will be when im in india. im very anti drug and only put shit in my body if i absolutley have to. what do you guys think? i know my doctor is gonna be all safe than sorry style and put me on every drug under the sun. id like some advice from people that have have experience with all this junk. all replies are appreciated

edwardseco

I would recommend against Larium. Way too many problems for me. Doxycycline worked very well for me. However, it does cause sun sensitivity in fair skinned people. Malarone sounds great but it is expensive and not available to my knowledge in India (heard a report otherwise). No one treatment fits all!! You do have to see what suits you and monitor for any reaction. In your case you MUST consult a doctor to see if there is any interaction. Doxy interacts with birth control pills for example. But, no Larium for you I would bet money. Going without anything has its own powerful negatives although it is a great way to lose weight..

vaticanus

Depends on where you are going and the altitude. Now is the dry season so there is little reason to start taking malarials yet. I had malaria in Columbia and found it extremely interesting to have bouts of headache and fever followed by periods of complete refreshment- and then back to the fever etc. The following is info I've gleaned from the net. I'm not a doctor- what you do is up to you.

3.5 million Indians get malaria each year. 35% of cases are P. falciparum accounting for 1000 deaths.
Prophylaxis is recommended year-round throughout the country (including the cities of Delhi and Bombay), except at altitudes higher than 2000 m. Most malaria cases are reported from forested areas in the states of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Bihar, and Karnataka. SOURCE: (MDTravelHealth.com)
MALARIA: There is a new version of an anti-malarial drug that begins protecting you against all forms of malaria (Plasmodium falciparum, vivax, ovale, and malariae) with the first oral administration. It is called METAKELFIN and is available in India. The active ingredients are Sulphamethoxyprazine and Pyrimethoamine 500 mg. By Pharmacia & Upjohn. Take once a week. The cost ranges from 15 to 60 rupees. CONSULT YOUR PHYSICIAN before using prescription medications.
NOTE: Another malarial Lariam (mefoquine) is proscribed and used by the US Peace Corps and military. Studies show that there are significant risks. Nearly 1/4 of all tourists using it report adverse psychiatric and neurological reactions from vivid dreams to depression. Dutch peacekeepers in Cambodia reported dizziness and problems with vision and concentration. CONSULT A DOCTOR before using prescription drugs.
POSTSCRIPT: A new therapy has been introduced to combat malaria in areas where there has developed high resistance- particularly in Africa where one million people (mainly children) die of malaria every year. The acronym for the therapy is ACT (artemisinin-class combination therapy). However, the cost is ten times that of older therapies and international agencies such as WHO and the Global Fund for AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria have been slow to adopt the new drugs.
Copy and paste the address below MDTRAVEL HEALTH's INDIA PAGE which is the best source of information on the web. Also, there is the Center for Disease Control which you can google for their address.

Website:
http://www.mdtravelhealth.com/destin...sia/india.html

Jeroen

FYI - Just cam back from the doctor today for my second series of jabs (just one more to go, phew) and we talked malaria; we looked through the maps with high/low/no risk areas, and he recommended me just taking good precautions (covering up, net, deet) and taking along a set of Malarone pills that can be taken, 4 a day, if symptoms show. India as a whole is low risk apparently compared to the jungle areas of Myanmar and Cambodia. Surprisingly, Kerala is lower-risk than Northern India - I associated more mosquitos with more risk, but the spread of strains behaves weirdly. The Doc also said that some strains of malaria are now resistent to Lariam, making that useless in parts of Asia. Malaron is pretty expensive here in the Czech Rep. at 1200Kc = $40 for 20 pills...
On the other hand, Czechs drive like Indians, so should I trust the bloke?

__________________
'To see the world in a grain of sand; and heaven in a wild flower; to hold infinity in the palm of your hand; and eternity in an hour'

cyberhippie

Interesing new development vaticanus and very well researched!!!! One small point though, anti malarial drugs need to be taken for up to two weeks before you go to India is METAKELFIN available in Europe and America??
The standard anti malarials for India remain a combination of Chloroquinine + Paludrine, beware of bodies like the FDA in America who tend to gloss this over in favour of the more expensive drugs like Malarone and Larium. These drugs ar over priced and and have a whole spectrum of side affects and are simply not needed in India.

SCohen

How would you go about getting METAKELFIN once in India?