I have spent about six months in Africa over the past eight years, usually between two to five weeks at a time. I have always taken Malarone and it has always worked well for me with no side effects.

My problem is that I am going to spend 12 weeks in Zambia this summer. I remember reading that Malarone should not be used for longer than a 28 day trip. On top of that it is expensive. My insurance may foot the bill, but I am more worried about negative health effects of taking it too long.

I am scared whit-less of Lariam and plan to stay away from the stuff. I know that many residents and PHs take Deltaprim but it is not available here in the US and I don't want to chance waiting to get it until I get to Africa.

So at this point I am leaning toward Doxicylin. Steve "Shakari" Robinson seems to recommend it along with a daily dose of acidophilus. I took Tetracycline as a teenager with no problems and I hear that Doxicylin is very similar so I think it may work well for me.

I plan to use Deet, Mosquito coils and a treated bed net also.

So my questions are: for those of you who have used Doxicylin as a profalaxis what was your experience? And, for those of you who know about such things, what do you think about taking Doxicylin for three months as an anti malarial? All information is appreciated.

Jason

1) Buy deltaprim in Africa
2) Doxy works well- I use it - but hard on the gut.
3) Take a good multivitamin with zinc...recent studiesa have shown that if your natural zinc levels are high your body will comfortably fight off most parasite infections including Bilharzia and malaria.

Not getting Bitten between the hours of 11pm and 5am is also important factor in not catching malaria.

Love larium- Hitler dressed as little bo peep and quoting Winston Churchil still ranks as my favourite Larium induced dream

/

Hi Alf - Am no doctor but- A 10 year studdy by Dr Knight who was the main GP in Kariba makes interesting reading. Will try and post a copy.

Basically he maintained that nobody living in a malaria area should take anything. keep co-artem on hand and treat as soon as sympoms arrise. However, in the course of his work he noted that people with a healthy level of zinc didn't get malaria or Bilharzia - both real problems at Kariba!

Since mooving to Harare, this has been taken a step further by the local university. One small problem- guzzling Zinc tabs tends to cause the body to over excrete it and blood levels fall! Current advice from the university is- take a good multi vit - and don't get bitten between 11 & 5.

Looking at the number of PH's who regularly get malaria, I conclude that
1) not getting bitten during those crucial hours is most important.
2) Booze and Malerone don't mix. If you drink and take Malerone- expect a break through!
3) Don't smoke and take Deltaprim

I take doxy during the prime malarial season (I am alergic to Sulpha and so cannot take deltaprim) and am just careful at night in winter/hot season.

Ganyana, Re item 2. What's a break through?

i never had a problem buying deltaprim in africa. Usually use doxy, but it does make you get a sunburn easy. if you use it take it at night and it will lessen the sunburn thing

I have used Lariam for years with 0 side effects. You can read up on almost any medicine and find a world of side effects, they do this to off set law suits I am told by those doctors in the know....

The smart money goes to those clever individuals that try out these drugs BEFORE they go to Africa and see if any side effect occur..You should discuss this with your doctor, and certainly not on the internet with mostly none professionals who will lead you astray and down the yellow brick road to doom and distruction!

Break Throughs are gaps or failures in the action of a medication, often caused be another medication, alcohol or even something as simple as a glass of grapefruit juice. The actual causes range from the medication is destroyed by the other substance as it passes through the digestive tract, or is prevented from being absorbed, or the medication just doesn't take effect in the body. One of the more common ones is birth control pills not working for women on penicillin based antibiotics.

Does the vaccine work? I thought that, as long as you were being bitten once every 2 years by a malarial mosquito, it remained effective.

Jason,

A former AR member; ErikD, used Doxy for a year while driving through 20 African countries. But just as all the other prophylactics, it will not protect you 100% and he did get malaria while using it. His wife used Lariam for a year with no side effects at all. He did mention that he found taking the Doxy in the evening lessened the sun sensitivity side effect, which is well known amongst those who use Doxy.

quote:

Originally posted by Ganyana:
Love larium- Hitler dressed as little bo peep and quoting Winston Churchil still ranks as my favourite Larium induced dream.

I think I heard that Oliver Stone is working on turning that plot into a new movie.

quote:

Not getting Bitten between the hours of 11pm and 5am is also important factor in not catching malaria.

Thats Interesting and new to me...


Seloushunter

quote:

quote:
Not getting Bitten between the hours of 11pm and 5am is also important factor in not catching malaria.


Thats Interesting and new to me...


Seloushunter

Malaria Prevention in Travelers
GREGORY JUCKETT, M.D.
West Virginia University School of Medicine

The best way to prevent malaria is to avoid exposure to the Anopheles mosquito that carries the disease. This can be difficult in tropical areas because of the pervasiveness of mosquitoes and the inadequate screening of windows. However, the Anopheles mosquito has several distinguishing characteristics that may be helpful in avoiding exposure. Unlike other mosquito types, it flies silently and, at rest, adopts a head-down rather than a horizontal position.2 In addition, the Anopheles mosquito feeds from dusk to dawn. Thus, travelers can significantly reduce their risk of malaria by limiting evening exposure to mosquitoes. Travelers who take day trips from a malaria-free city to a malarious countryside are at minimal risk if they return to the city before dusk.

I want to thank you all for you replies.

I am going to take Doxy with me and I think I will buy Deltaprim once I get there.

Jason

Who gives a crap about malaria! What are you going to be doing for 12 weeks?

Will you have a way of probing to get to the deep story.

I've used both lariam and malarone for up to 6 weeks and I've had no issues.

A guy I work with is on his third religous mission to Africa, each one lasting a year and he takes his family along. I believe he is on malarone this time. They've used lariam in the past and two of his daughters had bad dreams and one saw snakes that weren't there.

quote:

Originally posted by Will:
Who gives a crap about malaria! What are you going to be doing for 12 weeks?

You've obviously never contracted it.

GIN AND TONIC

Jason,

Another thing that's just occured to me is another factor that increases malaria risk is the type of toilet you'll be using. According to the WHO, if you're using a long drop toilet it's a good idea to occasionally chuck a bag of expanded polystyrene balls into the drop. It floats on top and forma a layer of balls that the emerging mosquitos can't penetrate and if they can't penetrate it, they can't fly up and bite you in the ass....... sounds a bit weird, but they claim it reduces the malarial incidence by something like 70%.

I dont take anything in the bush.Alot of these profilactics have really bad side affects that can last months.The other problem is that you can still get malaria while taking tablets and it can mask the symtoms of malaria and by the time you realise that you have it it might be too late.If you not taking pills and you get malaria and you treat quickly within 2 to 3 days you back to normall.

quote:

Originally posted by JBrown:

quote:

quote:
Not getting Bitten between the hours of 11pm and 5am is also important factor in not catching malaria.


Thats Interesting and new to me...


Seloushunter

Malaria Prevention in Travelers
GREGORY JUCKETT, M.D.
West Virginia University School of Medicine

The best way to prevent malaria is to avoid exposure to the Anopheles mosquito that carries the disease. This can be difficult in tropical areas because of the pervasiveness of mosquitoes and the inadequate screening of windows. However, the Anopheles mosquito has several distinguishing characteristics that may be helpful in avoiding exposure. Unlike other mosquito types, it flies silently and, at rest, adopts a head-down rather than a horizontal position.2 In addition, the Anopheles mosquito feeds from dusk to dawn. Thus, travelers can significantly reduce their risk of malaria by limiting evening exposure to mosquitoes. Travelers who take day trips from a malaria-free city to a malarious countryside are at minimal risk if they return to the city before dusk.

That's good sound advice. I use the same precautions here in AZ to avoid vampire bites.

On the advice of my doc, I used Mefloquine -- the generic of Lariam. It only requires one pill a week. Far as I could tell, I had no detrimental side effects. In fact, I have worse side effects from Lipitor and had to quit using it. Of course, with any drug each individual's mileage may vary. -TONY