Malaria

Per

The thing is that the prophylactics is the stuff that you have to take if you happen to get malaria. Most prophylactics have unwanted side effects, so if the risk is low I chose to minimize the risk as far as possible and always carry enough for a cure in case I get infected.

There are various ways to protect yourself: sleep under a mosquito net or under a fan or with air con; wear long lose clothes (protects from the scorching sun too); if the bugs are persistent burn a mosquito coil (feels like if you had a shot of elephant tranquilizer after sleeping a night in the fumes); avoid areas where there is a lack of electricity (no fans) and lots of standing water that works as breeding grounds for the mosquitoes (this is often seasonal, i.e., during the monsoon the risk is much higher); use repellent (indigenous or occidental) for exposed skin, especially at night when the mosquitoes come out; and above all, be well informed, it is unnecessary and silly to worry about malaria in Ladakh but there are on the other hand areas where prophylactics should be used, particularly if you are travelling roughly, hiking, camping, etc.

Hope that was to some help. There is useful info on http://www.malariasite.com/malaria/malariainindia.htm

Nick-H

...If you get infected, you will need lab test to diagnose, and doctor to treat, maybe even hospital. So what is the point of carrying your own medicines?

Do not burn mosquito coils in a closed room. You might not wake up.

edwardseco

The treatment depends on the variety of malaria. In addition the symptoms vary and can mimic other illnesses so Nick's point is very well taken..

[quote]my Brit friend in Arusha says:
"we long stay expats don't take anything and seem to survive."
[/QUOTE

Yes, long term is a completely different issue. I don't think I would be comfortable taking Doxy long term nor could I afford Malarone..

camelgirl

My hubbie thought he had malaria (high fever for a couple of days) and when he went to a doctor in Agra it turned out to be Typhoid Fever.

So, definitely should not be self-treating without knowing what you have.

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Nick-H

Amazing. One forgets that, even if its not malaria, it could be something equally serious .

The other thing about us long-termers surviving without taking anything is that we don't treat the suggestion of walking into a doctor's clinic with horror and disbelief!

Per

I never travel without my personal physician.

Nevertheless, there is a need for tests to establish what you got and there are many diseases with similar symptoms and you can´t carry a lab with you. But there are places where you can get tests in major bazaars.

I doubt the fumes are lethal. In any case we never use a complete coil. Use just a small part and place it on the window sill of an open window if possible.

Nick-H

The fumes are lethal --- although, you could say that the guy who, a couple of years back, was found dead as a result of burning one in a car with the windows shut was taking the "enclosed spaces" thing a bit farther than most would

On the sill of an open window is what many people do, and I guess they do mostly wake up

You are lucky if you have a personal physician! And yes, medical labs are all over the place, certainly in cities. You could get a full CAT scan done for a surprisingly small amount of money, if large doses of radiation happened to be your thing.

One thing, though... the next time I have to take malaria drugs (and you should, even while waiting for the test results, if the doc thinks there's more than a chance you might have it) I'll do it lying flat on a hospital bed via a drip. Was it in this thread I mentioned vomiting every 30 minutes?

Per

Yes, so far we have woken up though I hate to use it, we kind of burn it only in emergencies, thinking that mosquito bites are worse especially when there is dengue or malaria in the area. Then, we burn perhpas 10 per cent of a complete coil, rig it up on the window sill, and mostly it is enough to keep the mosquitos away.

Don´t know what the active substance is, much less how it works, but I am convinced that it is not good in the short run and potentially seriously harmful in the long run.

Nick-H

We keep an electric device, which we mean to turn off before sleep, but sometimes foget. No harm seems to come of it, but I did feel a bit ill one day when I spent the whole day shut in the living room with three of those devices plugged in.

camelgirl

We've used the coils almost exclusively outside on our back deck. We've used something else indoors but I don't know what the chemical is--the kind you plug into the wall. Again, rarely.

Just to freak you out a bit more, here is some info on the toxicity of the coils. Almost makes me not want to use them outside, though I just bought another batch of them http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/art...rtid=12416 46

Per

Interesting and horrid, they really are as bad as I always though they were (and felt after using them). Nevertheless, in some situations there are not any other options: e.g., staying in a leaky lodge in the middle of wet rice paddy fields. So will always carry some in case, and move the next day.

Nick-H

I only read the abstract, but that looks bad enough.

I think I'll try to avoid those leaky lodges!!

edwardseco

Can't handle the coils, my people switched to the tablet type because of breathing problems also..

Sama

I'll be traveling India with a nurse next year so she can save my butt when I eat something rotten again! that is, unless she eats something rotten first!

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edwardseco

Actually rather useful when I came down with the big nasty. My sis in law took great care of it along with my late mother in law, shukriya..