Malaria

Sama

namaste cat, thanks for those links! my next trip will be for about 2.5 months and will include Tanzania, and I don't want to take malaria meds for that long of a time.

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MY INDIA, 2005-2008
"Once you have felt the Indian dust, you will never be free of it." (Rumer Godden, 1975)

namaste_cat

You're welcome Sama Another thing I added to my regimen a few yrs ago is this soap. I was very skeptical at first but I must say we've all really benefited from it. It's expensive but we cut it up into 3 pieces, and each carry a small travel body wash bottle in which we keep the piece, so it's easy to travel with.

Thanks to my regimen - above-mentioned soap, followed by neem oil preparations which I apply right after I shower & loose long-sleeved breathable cotton fabric neither my kids nor I have ever had any problems. No one has contracted malaria or any other disease while in India or elsewhere ( we follow same regimen on trips to the Florida Everglades and places that have hi risk of Blue Nile and such)

As per the CDC, oil of lemon eucalyptus helps as well. I keep the sprays I mentioned handy and reapply if needed.

I don't care if people wanna use drugs, not my concern but was simply sharing what's worked for us, and if folks have a problem w/ that, well too bad

Sama

I'm bookmarking that link, too, namaste cat!

interesting about that soap with the ingredients eucalyptus oil, citronella oil, menthol, lavendula, calendula. when I did my second trip there was a yoga student who mixed her own concoction of essential oils using some of these oils and never got a bite. I regret not getting the recipe from her! hmmmm....maybe someone at an aromatherapy shop would know the ratio...
when I mix my own oils I do use organic sesame oil as a base....

N cat...

Nick-H

And I hope the mosquitoes appreciate that!

camelgirl

I'm sticking with the nasty chemicals that have been tested for many years (mostly on our poor soldiers) and in controlled lab conditions. That would be Deet, Picaridin, & natural Lemon Eucalyptus--really strong smell but I like it anyway.

Sama, be very, very, very careful in Africa. Malaria is way worse than anything India can throw at you with a very high fatality rate. It's your choice to go "natural" but I'd be sure to find out exactly how bad malaria is in the place you are going. If it's a very high altitude, probably no worry.

I'm sure you will get all the info to be a safe traveler! http://www.afro.who.int/malaria/coun...e/tanzania.pdf

I'm soooo jealous--a 2 1/2 month trip!!!

BTW, I wish neem had some serious studies done but apart from that small article, there really aren't any anywhere, except from people selling it, and I would never use it to protect myself from malaria, though we put it on our outside plants where we get mixed results. Seriously, if neem worked there wouldn't be any malaria in India!!

The soap sounds lovely, but I also doubt it would be effective for very long since soap doesn't leave much residue on your skin.

Not getting sick, not getting malaria, well the odds are with you, so not doing anything will give you more than a 50% chance of being fine. Hey, only 50% of people who smoke actually die from lung cancer--those odds were enough for me to stop 40 years ago! Guess I just don't live on the edge

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Nick-H

True... No shortage of neem trees, here --- with mossies all over them!

Sama

it's more for my benefit than theirs!

Sama

Arusha is 1380 meters or 4527 ft. above sea level so.....? and I just don't know about taking malarone for 2.5 months...forget about larium.....and that would be VERY long regimen of doxy, if that was my choice.....

I'll ask my Brit friend who's been living there forever what the malaria scene is!

edwardseco

The usual advice is over 2000 meters not to worry..

camelgirl

Seems like it would be fine due to higher altitude BUT I just did a bit of a google (one day I may get there!) and all evidence points to malaria being a big problem there. In fact, in the linked article http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06158/696104-114.stm it says:

"ground zero for the disease: Tanzania. This place has the highest rates of death from malaria in all of sub-Saharan Africa and every 5 minutes here someone dies of the disease."

In another website, this guy says the locals & ex-pats "blow it off" http://www.hanselman.com/blog/Arusha...Malaria .aspx

I guess like in India, it's all about figuring out what level of risk you're OK with.

Back to India...wrong continent, right subject!

Sama

thanks for the info, camelgirl. I don't think I'll be putting that quote in my ad for my yoga retreat in Arusha....

I will choose wisely. my trip will encompass Chennai-Kolkata-Haridwar, then on to Arusha. Jan to mid-March next year. so I have plenty of time to read up on all the nasties. think I'll stock up on Odomos while in India.

now turning this thread over to malaria in India!

edwardseco

We swear by Odomos..

namaste_cat

Sama, that's how I learned about it too. Growing up in India, my parents used Odomos cream and insisted we (brothers and I) use it as well. I for one, couldn't stand the smell, and also it didn't do squat for me.

But our maids never seemed to get bitten. Came to find out they used neem. This is in Bengal; they used mustard oil as a base. I prefer the smell and feel of coconut oil or shea butter. However, I think she (and other Indians) might be on to something - in this study, they found mustard oil (Dhar brand) to be more effective as a base than Parachute coconut oil, makes your idea of sesame oil a good one perhaps :
http://www.mrcindia.org/journal/issues/401049.pdf

From what I've observed w/ the soap, I have to follow the instructions to the letter because if I don't leave it on long enough, I can notice the difference (tested it in the FL Everglades). Layering effect of the soap + neem & lemon eucalyptus works for us. I even spray the brim of my hat and hair and clothing while I'm out and about. I've also noticed as per these studies, my experience too is that the concentration makes a big difference - minimum of 2-4% neem oil e.g.
In this one, field tested and published in an Indian journal
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8936291
In this one, they also found 2% neem oil concentration to work (similar results to the 1st study from the American journal I found earlier):
Field studies on the mosquito repellent action of neem oil.
Southeast Asian J Trop Med Public Health. 1995 Mar; 26(1):180-2.
Malaria Research Center (Field Station), BHEL Complex, Ranipur, Hardwar, India.

My kids dislike mustard oil so I decided to look into a cream they could use. We'll be in Ladakh soon where skeeters aren't as big an issue as in some other areas, so I'm going to try out a neem cream. Got the idea after looking at this:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7589727

Anyway, so far so good for me and my kids. Hope you have similar good results, Sama

wonderwomanusa

I take doxy for the duration of my visits to India, which average 2-1/2 months, with no ill effects. And that much doxy is less than US$7.00

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camelgirl

That neem article is 14 years old. There is much newer information available and none of it recommends neem from your same website.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18272250?ordinalpos=1&itool=En trezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pub med_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_Discov eryPanel.Pubmed_Discovery_RA&l inkpos=5&log$=relatedreviews&l ogdbfrom=pubmed


I'm sure the researchers around the world who have devoted their lives to the prevention and cure of malaria have not overlooked this ancient tree & its curative properties.

I may be naive to think that if it worked, science would know about it by now (neem is hardly unknown) and it would be in production, since everyone wants to make money, as well as public health people around the world who are absolutely desperate for help with malaria.

I don't expect my opinion to have any effect on anyone committed to using whatever they believe in, but I can't change my commitment to well researched products. I hope tests will show less toxic products will work, which is why I try to use Lemon Eucalyptus (after it was proven to work).