Malaria Pills

Doxy is what I ended up getting. I'm a bit concerned about the sun sensitivity… I will be going to desert areas — Sudan, and Saudi Arabia as well.

Ben,

Sorry for the late reply. I underwent a back surgery and have been out of it recovering for the past month or so. You made the right call in my opinion with Doxy. Almost every area you are traveling to contains the deadly falciparum malaria parasite. Just keep a good supply of sun screen close and wear long breathable clothing (for both sun and mosquitoes). East Africa is my neck of the African woods and you should have an amazing time. Such an amazing place. Enjoy and best of luck.

Ben,

Tardy reply, but my thoughts: I traveled to Africa (Southern third of continent and East Africa) numerous times over many decades, starting in the "Malaria Sunday" era. I do not recall the prescription name taken years ago (early era), but it was taken once a week; thus, "Malaria Sunday."

Larium was next for me. It was considered an improvement; however, I encountered a significant number of people who traveled to Africa and concluded, at the time, contracting malaria was better than taking Larium. They assumed, by the time they exhibited symptoms, they would be in a developed country and would receive treatment there. To me, this made little sense: health care providers in the U. S. are not used to encountering malaria and the "note in the wallet" stating one was in a malaria area was likely not to be found.

When Malarone was released, I stopped taking Larium; Malarone is an upgrade to Larium. Malarone starts one or two days before arriving in a malaria risk area and for seven days after leaving the area.

In the Larium era, an acquaintance was in East Africa (Tanzania, I recall) and developed malaria, but exhibited symptoms upon landing in London, where malaria was quickly diagnosed followed by blood transfusions and a relatively long hospital stay.

In the early era, malaria information was harder to obtain, but I/we scoured government and academic publications, some of which, not surprisingly, had somewhat conflicting information. Once information was posted online, I/we looked at the World Health Organization (WHO), CDC, British, Canadian, Western European country health organization web sites, etc., for updated malaria information. I think it would be helpful for you to review malaria information posted at WHO, CDC and other country web sites.

In Africa, I follow the usual mosquito precautions: DEET, long pants, long sleeve shirt, socks, bug net at night if available, bug spray if available, room fan at night if available, etc. Might want to bring a head bug net; doesn't weigh much. There used to be a theory that mosquitoes were attracted to blue color clothing; thus, avoid jeans. This theory may have been disproved by now.

Lastly, a short-term medical evacuation policy might be comforting. Most travel medical insurance plans, including premium plans, include medical transportation to the nearest medical facility as determined by the insurance provider. There are medical evacuation plans, which are not travel medical insurance, that include medical evacuation transportation to a hospital of choice in the U.S. Medical evacuation can be brutally expensive. I am aware, if ill, medical transportation might not be the best choice; staying put might be in order.

Enjoy your trip!

B2dubs

Don't you want ANTI-malaria pills?

Oh Jeffs the devil's in the details.