malaria - TravelPUNK Backpacker College Student Budget Travel Message Boards!

wong name · 10-18-2003, 03:06 PM

if your going to costa rica this year, u should be warned that national geographic has labeled costa rica a hotbed 4 malaria. i guess its normal home is in central africa and asia. just thought i would pass that along :greenguy:

**Diorama** · 10-20-2003, 05:26 PM

oops. I went to Costa Rica last year and i didn't even take Malaria pills! darn i was lucky

jteichgrab · 11-15-2003, 06:27 PM

how exactly do you obtain malariea pills and how much can they cost? i also was told i wasnt supposed to drink alchohol when i am taking them............fat chance! if someone could gimmie the low down (i sound like my mom) i would be grateful.

**Diorama** · 11-16-2003, 03:23 AM

As I said previously above I didn't actually take them/ But I did go to a travel health clinic and they wrote up a prescription for me and then i was suppose to go to a pharmacy to get them. but I never did. I don't think they'd cost that must money. prob no more than 15 bux i'd imagine. But go visit your local travel health clinic. They're very informative! take care J.

**Mocassin** · 11-16-2003, 03:40 AM

Ok, I do suggest you take your malaria pills...Malaria is not something you want to catch and you must use chemoprophylaxis drugs...

Travellers take it one week before entering endemic zones and carry on taking one month after leaving. Non of the chemoprophylaxis is a 100% yet and some may have slight side effects that hinder compliance...You must also use repellent and other physical protection...mosquitoes usually strike between surise and sunset...

Some of them (for example Chloroquine) have unwanted effects (nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, psychoses, rashes, pruritis, dizziness, blurring vision, headache, and urticarial symptoms. Continues use of high doses could lead to irreversible retinopathies meaning blindness) but there are new (but a little bit more expensive) drugs on the market that are as good and don't make you blind and don't give you halluciantions...

Furthermore, resistance against Choloquine was developed by the notorious falciparum specie...So I would personnally choose a pill that is a bit more expansive, especially if I was going to take them for a long time!

Anyways...Ask your doctor...

**worldwidemike** · 11-16-2003, 07:19 AM

Yeah, Dr. Moc, I remember feeling ill when the possible side effects were described to me when I started taking them, right before I went to Panama and Honduras. My favorite possible effect was "if you have any psychic abilities, my may find them enhanced."

ESP! Like, right now, I can tell all the women reading this are feeling a strange attraction to worldwidemike...

Moc's right, though. You don't want to mess with malaria. It is terminal -- it doesn't go away and you will have it for the rest of your life...least that's what I've read. Am I right, Madame Docteur?

worldwidemike

**Mocassin** · 11-16-2003, 07:36 AM

You are right....Malaria is a parasite that hides in your liver, then in a cyclic way will start reproducing in your blood cells, and you get the fever...You can never get rid of it once it's established, it's almost part of your DNA!

**Sijuki** · 11-16-2003, 08:59 AM

Ooooh... a woman with smarts. That is too cool.

ninjakendra · 08-01-2004, 05:36 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Diorama@Nov 16 2003, 03:23 AM
But go visit your local travel health clinic. They're very informative! take care J.

i'm glad i found this thread, maybe someone can answer my questions. i'm going to thailand, so i know it would be a great idea to get malaria pills and get my innoculations. but what if i don't have insurance to go to a doctor to get this done? should i just not go on this trip until i can get insurance? how do i find a local travel health clinic?

thanks!