The different anti-malarials are VERY different.Any comment that says 'blah blah anti-malarial' without saying WHICH ONE is next to useless :-(
My recollection is that, for places you are likely to go, there are four main ones. In chronological order of invention:
1. Quinine, Chloroquine, Proguanil, etc,
2. Doxycycline;
3. Mefloquine (TM: 'Lariam');
4. Malarone.
Group 1 is pretty much useless now, for most (all?) areas. The buggers are immune to it.
Group 2 may be enough in some places. Doxycycline is an antibiotic that also kills malaria. Not too bad to take.
Group 3 AWOOGA!!! Lots of people report getting nightmarish hallucinations with this. Recommend: don't take it, but do seek an alternative.
Group 4 Malarone: works great, but very expensive.
Frankly, you really don't want malaria. It's a right bastard. Malarone is fine to take, so if your wallet can stand it, surely that's better than running a hard-to-quantify risk of causing yourself a lifetime of hard-to-predict ill-health?
Worth getting professional advice -- we might all be worng :-)
Edit: and apols to SirJon for prolonging the TJ.
(My recollection is that, for places you are likely to go, there are four main ones. In chronological order of invention:
1. Quinine, Chloroquine, Proguanil, etc,
2. Doxycycline;
3. Mefloquine (TM: 'Lariam');
4. Malarone.
Group 1 is pretty much useless now, for most (all?) areas. The buggers are immune to it.
Group 2 may be enough in some places. Doxycycline is an antibiotic that also kills malaria. Not too bad to take.
Group 3 AWOOGA!!! Lots of people report getting nightmarish hallucinations with this. Recommend: don't take it, but do seek an alternative.
Group 4 Malarone: works great, but very expensive.
Frankly, you really don't want malaria. It's a right bastard. Malarone is fine to take, so if your wallet can stand it, surely that's better than running a hard-to-quantify risk of causing yourself a lifetime of hard-to-predict ill-health?
Worth getting professional advice -- we might all be worng :-)
Edit: and apols to SirJon for prolonging the TJ.
Bee Nice |-|,
Thu 16 Apr 2009, 14:03,
archived)
This is a very thorough summing up.I would attest to the Lariam nastiness personally.
Doxycycline can be bought very cheaply once you get there, but is of limited effect. It was developed as an anti-acne drug so will keep your skin clear, too.
But it also makes you more sensitive to the sun. Not very good in a tropical country, really.
(Doxycycline can be bought very cheaply once you get there, but is of limited effect. It was developed as an anti-acne drug so will keep your skin clear, too.
But it also makes you more sensitive to the sun. Not very good in a tropical country, really.
enceladus,
Thu 16 Apr 2009, 14:12,
archived)