This July my family and I are traveling to SA and Namibia. We are starting a tour in Port Elizabeth, heading west through Cape Town, then on up the west coast into Namibia (Skeleton Coast, Etosha, etc). From there we have a 9-day hunt an hour and a half drive southeast of Windhoek. From what we understand, these are malaria-free zones, especially at this time of year.

Any opinions on this or the need for anti-malaria drugs would be appreciated. We would prefer not to take them, but want to be cautious.

Thanks,
Bill

The areas in RSA are malaria free. I have been there twice. IIRC, the areas of Namibia that you are travelling are also malaria free but someone with direct knowledge of the area should speak up.

When hunting in Zim, I used Malerone with no side effects. If you need malaria meds, your personal needs may be different than mine. Consult your provider. Check out www.cdc.gov for travellers info.

RCG

You should be OK at that time of year but malaria is an awful thing to have and strict caution is always to be advised.

There are also other medical possibilities you also need to be aware of and you might like to take a look here:

Health In Africa

To be safe, Malarone would be my recommendation, if there is any doubt about the possibility of Marlaria.

Dear Bills

Last year we used Doxy-100
3 out of 4 family members had side affect and had to stop taking it.
Dispite the fact 2 of us had used it before with no issue.
If you use it wont be required. If you dont you wish you had.
So just use it and save the head ache.
Will use it again next year dispite what happened.

Regards
Mark

yOU DON´T NEED THEM BUT JUST IN CASE mALARONE

My family and I have used Doxy without problems.

Women who are prone to thrush may suffer that side effect with it. In children under 12 there is also the remote possibility of stained teeth so we put our 10yo on an alternative.

Despite the fact you are in Malaria free zones your familys health is your responsibility and Malaria is a disease that just keeps on giving.

Bills,

This forum has a lot of useful info, but to get medical advice here is not the best thing. Your doctor should know your medical condition and would be best to advise you on the various drugs. I know it is always interesting and even helpful to get others advice, but check with your doc. Having said that, if you ask they will most likely recommend them. I won't take them myself, but then I won't go to areas where malaria is an issue.

I know there is always a chance for malaria in RSA or even parts of Namibia (in the so called malaria free areas), but I'll take that risk over the drugs. By the way, my doctor recommended that I take them when I went to RSA. He checked the areas I was going to hunt/travel via internet to determine his recommendation for me. I declined.

All the doctors I have ordered Malaria med's for new squat about it and had to look it up.
Have found Malarone to be the best but if the area you are travelling in has bad Tick bite fever (Cattle country) then Doxicyclone , often known as Vibramicine ect is another recommendation.
It is also worth testing for any reactions prior to travel even if recommended by the Doc.

I hunted 30 days last Aug. soutwest of Windhoek and took doxy for ten days made me dizzy and shakey. I would be more scared now of getting AIDS from mosquitos than malaria in Namibia.The bullfrog mosquito repelant worked good.

Seek advice from a travel clinic. The only area I question is Etosha. I have been in and around Etosha on a few different occasions and mosquitoes were never a problem but in the past Etosha has been shown as an endemic area. Check with a travel clinic (my regular doctor did not know beans about it).

quote:

Originally posted by catosilvaje:
I would be more scared now of getting AIDS from mosquitos than malaria

Just make sure you and the mosquito are wearing a condoms and you should be OK.

Amen!. i can't believe this mosquito/AIDS crap has come up again. be careful that you don't scratch yourself on the same thorn that just scratched your tracker too. oh, hell just stay home where it is safe!

Getting malaria is a whole lot worse than the medication.

The best way to avoid it is to not get biten and this can be done relatively simply with long clothing after dark, nets over your bed and effective repellant.

Don't let it ruin your trip or plans though. It is like gettng run over crossing the street. With knowledge and prior planning it can be avoided.

Aids from mosquitos !

I've been using Malarone in SE Asia. I tried Larium late last year, didn't finish the course and will never use it again. I understand the Australian Defence Forces trialled it too, and cut short the trial.

I would like to try Doxy for African visit. I understand that you must complete the course with an eradicator at the end, does anyone know what this is? My GP doesn't, but I am told this is Aus Army protocol.

Cheers, Chris

Rockdoc
For doxy we were informed to have it 3 days before arriving in the area.

Course of tablets to run 4 weeks after leaving the area.

We had used it prior on other trips to Africa, with no issue. It is also a good anti biotic so another reason we used it.

This was the recomendation by a travel doctor in Aussie.

Thanks cameronaussie. I was told that doxy still needs nan eradicator at the end? ANybody heard of this?

I had stomach troubles in December in Central Kalimantan I think due to inflamation by Malarone, something I hadn't had before. I thought I would try doxy, plus it's wat cheaper than Malarone.

Cheers, Chris

quote:

Originally posted by cameronaussie:
Rockdoc
For doxy we were informed to have it 3 days before arriving in the area.

Course of tablets to run 4 weeks after leaving the area.

We had used it prior on other trips to Africa, with no issue. It is also a good anti biotic so another reason we used it.

This was the recommendation by a travel doctor in Aussie.

I used the same protocol when I was working out of Kenya in the late 80's and middle 90's. It works, if you have no reactions.

On my last three hunts, I have used Malarone because the regimen is less stringent once you leave the area.

I find Doxy very good but one side effect you need to guard against is thrush which can be excruciatingly painful and long lasting.

I'd suggest regular, daily doses of live acidophilis and also make sure your first aid kit contains a tube or two of the appropriate cream to use as a treatment if you do get it.

Current Namibia recs

Malaria: Prophylaxis with Lariam (mefloquine), Malarone (atovaquone/proguanil), or doxycycline is recommended for the provinces of Kunene, Ohangwena, Okavango, Omaheke, Omusati, Oshana, Oshikoto, Otjozondjupa, and the Caprivi Strip.


Current South Africa recs:
Malaria: Prophylaxis with Lariam (mefloquine), Malarone (atovaquone/proguanil), or doxycycline is recommended for travel to low-altitude areas of the Mpumalanga Province (including Kruger Natonal Park), Limpopo Province, Northern Province, and northeastern KwaZulu-Natal as far south as the Tugela River.


Hope that helps

A word of caution re: Malarone. I tried it and found that I couldn't sleep while taking that drug. Now I'm a light sleeper and it could just be me, but I couldn't fall asleep while on that stuff. At first I thought it was just jet lag, but after a few days of having to take an Ambien to fall asleep I stopped taking the Malarone and everything was fine. From now on, I'll use Doxycycline.

Labman, did you take the Malarone first thing in the morning?

Larium really freaked me out, really vivid dreams etc. Never again.

Cheers, Chris

Better safe than sorry, so when we have been in the north of Namibia we have always taken Malarone.

This map shows the malaria zone.

Use lots of sunscreen and cover exposed skin as much as possible. Doxy makes you extremely photosensitive.

Ray

Thanks for all of your input. My good wife is going to the travel clinic in a couple of weeks. We'll see what they have to say. Ideally I would prefer not to take anything but my nephew contracted malaria in Uganda a couple of years ago and it wasn't much fun apparently. Both our tour guide and hunting hosts don't think prophylaxis are necessary at that time of year but I'm thinking may-be better safe than sorry.

Bill

quote:

Originally posted by raymedic:
Use lots of sunscreen and cover exposed skin as much as possible. Doxy makes you extremely photosensitive.

Ray

I find it helps if you take it with the evening meal rather than in the morning.

I have been taking Larium for so many years.

Always take my pill after dinner.

I am normally so tired I do not get any of those exciting dreams everyone talks about.

Mind you, they probably would be in comparison to what I day dream about!

Malarone is fairly expensive (something like $6/pill), but it is slated to go generic right around the start of your trip. When I took it for 30 days last year, I had one crazy dream but otherwise noticed no side effects. My girlfriend took doxy on the same trip and suffered a bad sunburn on her nose -- enough to make her look like Rudolph for about a month -- and she normally never sunburns. However, if you can tolerate doxy and are careful about the sun, it's cheap and doubles as treatment for mild food poisoning and chlamydia (important to some travelers, I would imagine).

Rockdoc - Yes I took the Malarone as soon as I woke up in the morning, but it still kept me awake at night.

I've never had a problem with Malarone and have taken it on 4 different trips. The idea of only having to take 1 pill a week for Larium (I think that is correct) is appealing. I think it is fairly cheap compared to Malarone and am thinking of trying it at home or maybe in Costa Rica this spring to see if I have any side effects and use it on my next trip to Africa if it agrees with me. I did share camp with a hunter in 2009 that said if he takes Larium in the morning he does not have any problems but if he takes it in the evening he will wake up shit-scared in the middle of the night.