Traveling Overseas Without Shots?

I'm planning to travel to Kenya, Tanzania, and Zanzibar Island this
xmas break on an educational tour. Myself and some of the people in
the group aren't comfortable getting shots/vaccinations and would feel
more comfortable taking the natural route. I myself am a vegetarian
and consume mostly organic foods. So the idea of taking drugs doesn't
sit too well with me.

Has anyone traveled to Africa without taking shots? Are you familiar
with any natural antibiotics and preventative medicines? The group
leader recommended Quinine to protect against malaria. Also, I've been
doing some reading on colloidal silver, a natural antibiotic (I
actually used it once and it works great but I didn't know that it was
good as a protectant against malaria). Has anyone heard of or
experienced any other natural medicine?

I hear that yellow fever immunizations may be required when traveling
to Kenya. Is this true?

Here's the bottom line... All of the people (and I know many, many
cases) I know who have contracted malaria have one of two things in
common:
a) They were not dilligent about taking the conventional medical drugs
(mefloquine, doxycycline, etc) or
b) The were using homeopathic prophylaxis.

I don't know of ONE SINGLE CASE of anyone in sub-saharan Africa who
has dilligently taken the conventional meds and still contracted the
disease. This includes the Chloroquine/proguanil combination.

I was close to two people who DIED from malaria. Both of them were on
some form of homeopathic prophylaxis, in spite of warnings against
them. Both also tried homeopathic treatment of the malaria and refused
conventional medical treatment. Both of them died after slipping into
a coma.

Why is called "slipping into a coma"? It sounds so serene and
peaceful. In reality, going into a coma due to malaria is ugly,
excruciatingly painful, and something I wouldn't wish on anyone. Your
red blood cells are essentially exploding inside your body, your body
temperature soars, the parasites riddle your body, finally reaching
the brain. Isn't it ironic that the last organ that the malaria
effects, is the one organ that you should use to prevent yourself from
getting the disease in the first place - your brain.

You say that "the idea of taking drugs doesn't sit too well" with you.
How well does an agonizing death sit with you? There is a good chance
that you will not contract malaria if you don't take any prophylaxis
at all, but are dilligent about using repellants, but if you get
bitten by a malarial mosquito, you will get malaria. By the time you
get back to Europe/USA you will develop simple, flu-like symptoms. A
vague headach, possibly sore throat, mild fever etc. Nothing too
serious, after all you've just returned from another country, you've
been cooped up in an airplane etc.You take sone form of natural
antibiotic, and you feel lousy for the day until the "flu" clears up.
Three or four days later, the "flu" reappears, a little worse this
time. No problemo - you take your natural antibiotics again and wait.
This time the flu doesn't clear up in one day, and by the third day
you feel very ill. Maybe you try some other homeopathic remedy. After
five days you realise that there is something seriously wrong. You go
to a doctor or hospital. They have no clue what is wrong with you,
because they don't know where to start looking. They after all, don't
have any experience with tropical diseases (even a nurses assistant in
rural Uganda can spot malaria). After two days of frantically trying
to figure out what's wrong with you, the hospital finally decides to
look in the liver. But by this stage, your liver is riddled with
parasites, you are experiencing retinal hemoraging (you bleed from
your eyeballs), you can't keep any food down, you are anaemic, you
have constant intolerable headaches that don't respond to pain
medication, your kindeys start to fail, your body is warkked by
painfull spasms.

By the time anyone knows what's wrong with you, you're dead. Simply
because you didn't use your brain (and some relatively harmless drugs)
in the first place.

You said "Has anyone heard of or experienced any other natural
medicine?" Malaria effects 100million people, and about 1% of those
(ABOUT 1 MILLION PEOPLE EVERY YEAR) will die from it. You can bet your
bottom dollar (they do) that every pharmaceutical company worldwide is
looking at the ultimate malaria prevention/cure. So far, they have
only come up with the chemical concoctions that you don't want to use.
Malaria has been with humans ever since humans and mosqitos
co-existed. Malaria is one of the longest known diseases, and through
millenia of trying herbal, natural, organic etc. remedies, NONE of
them have EVER worked, apart from quinine, and this only really worked
effectively and safely after it was chemically replicated in 1820.

I'm sorry if this sounds like a personal rant with you. It's not. It's
just that I get so mad when I hear of people who come to sub-Saharan
Africa with notions that they're visiting Disneyland's African
Adventureland. This is not Europe. This is not the USA.

One of the biggest favours you can do yourself is to get hold of a BBC
documentary called "Africa Village" in which a British couple and
their kids are sent to live with a typical family in Swaziland for
about 8 weeks. Forget about Survivor, Disneyland, King Solomon's
Mines, Indiana Jones, and The African Queen. That's what Africa is all
about.

I'll go take a cold shower now then...

Marc

On 25 Nov 2004 07:58:06 -0800, (Former Member)
wrote:

I'm planning to travel to Kenya, Tanzania, and Zanzibar Island this
xmas break on an educational tour. Myself and some of the people in
the group aren't comfortable getting shots/vaccinations and would feel
more comfortable taking the natural route. I myself am a vegetarian
and consume mostly organic foods. So the idea of taking drugs doesn't
sit too well with me.

Has anyone traveled to Africa without taking shots? Are you familiar
with any natural antibiotics and preventative medicines? The group
leader recommended Quinine to protect against malaria. Also, I've been
doing some reading on colloidal silver, a natural antibiotic (I
actually used it once and it works great but I didn't know that it was
good as a protectant against malaria). Has anyone heard of or
experienced any other natural medicine?

I hear that yellow fever immunizations may be required when traveling
to Kenya. Is this true?

Question about black Africans, and indigenous peoplesof Papu/New Guinea
and also some Australian aborigines. These people carry the sickle cell
anemia gene. Does carrying it immunize someone against malaria
completely, or just makes the tolerate it effects better than for those
who don't carry the gene?

On Wed, 01 Dec 2004 01:32:28 GMT, Not the Karl Orff
wrote:

Question about black Africans, and indigenous peoplesof Papu/New Guinea
and also some Australian aborigines. These people carry the sickle cell
anemia gene. Does carrying it immunize someone against malaria
completely, or just makes the tolerate it effects better than for those
who don't carry the gene?

The latter. Many indigenous people acquire (or perhaps inherit,
I don't know) partial immunity, with or without that gene.

By far not all indigenous people have the sickle-cell anemia
gene. Only some have it. It obviously carries its own
disadvantage, so it's an evolutionary tradeoff.

Hans-Georg

--
No mail, please.

On Wed, 01 Dec 2004 01:32:28 GMT, Not the Karl Orff
wrote:

Question about black Africans, and indigenous peoplesof Papu/New Guinea
and also some Australian aborigines. These people carry the sickle cell
anemia gene. Does carrying it immunize someone against malaria
completely, or just makes the tolerate it effects better than for those
who don't carry the gene?

The latter. Many indigenous people acquire (or perhaps inherit,
I don't know) partial immunity, with or without that gene.

By far not all indigenous people have the sickle-cell anemia
gene. Only some have it. It obviously carries its own
disadvantage, so it's an evolutionary tradeoff.

Hans-Georg

--
No mail, please.

Question about black Africans, and indigenous peoplesof Papu/New Guinea
and also some Australian aborigines. These people carry the sickle cell
anemia gene. Does carrying it immunize someone against malaria
completely, or just makes the tolerate it effects better than for those
who don't carry the gene?

I traveled to Kenya last January...Don't worry about the
food...everything served was fresh and peeled...the food was very
delicious...I was impressed..as a vegetarian you will be in the right
place the food is great...just relax and enjoy yourself.....I did!

No.. yellow fever shot is not required...nothing is required...it's your
own choice to have them

Coming into the conversation a little late, but here is a slight different
angle:

If you decide not to take appropriate prophylaxis, and you get ill and have
to be medivacced out, there is at least a theoretical chance that your
travel insurance may not come to the party and reimburse your expenses.
Could be an expensive affair.


"Former Member" wrote in message
om...
I'm planning to travel to Kenya, Tanzania, and Zanzibar Island this
xmas break on an educational tour. Myself and some of the people in
the group aren't comfortable getting shots/vaccinations and would feel
more comfortable taking the natural route. I myself am a vegetarian
and consume mostly organic foods. So the idea of taking drugs doesn't
sit too well with me.

Has anyone traveled to Africa without taking shots? Are you familiar
with any natural antibiotics and preventative medicines? The group
leader recommended Quinine to protect against malaria. Also, I've been
doing some reading on colloidal silver, a natural antibiotic (I
actually used it once and it works great but I didn't know that it was
good as a protectant against malaria). Has anyone heard of or
experienced any other natural medicine?

I hear that yellow fever immunizations may be required when traveling
to Kenya. Is this true?

On Thu, 9 Dec 2004 04:14:45 +1300, "Daniel"
wrote:

Coming into the conversation a little late, but here is a slight different
angle:

If you decide not to take appropriate prophylaxis, and you get ill and have
to be medivacced out, there is at least a theoretical chance that your
travel insurance may not come to the party and reimburse your expenses.
Could be an expensive affair.

Daniel,

dying may be cheaper. (:-)

Seriously, if you come down with malaria, then you've seriously
risked your life. Insurance should be a secondary consideration,
compared to death.

The least everybody should do is carry a cure dose, but for a
short vacation everybody should take the prophylaxis.

Hans-Georg

--
No mail, please.