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#1
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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? |
#2
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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? |
#3
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On Thu, 25 Nov 2004 21:29:06 +0100, "Jean-Marc V. Liotier"
wrote: Now on the subject of "natural" medicine : please don't fall for that bull****. Jean-Marc, you deserve a round of applause. I posted a long, probably boring tirade about "natural" and homeopathic medicine, but could not have put it as succinctly or as emphatically as you did in one line. Regards, Marc |
#4
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In message , Marc Lurie
writes On Thu, 25 Nov 2004 21:29:06 +0100, "Jean-Marc V. Liotier" wrote: Now on the subject of "natural" medicine : please don't fall for that bull****. Jean-Marc, you deserve a round of applause. I posted a long, probably boring tirade about "natural" and homeopathic medicine, but could not have put it as succinctly or as emphatically as you did in one line. Regards, Marc Marc, I found the statement you made about having never known anyone contract malaria who had "diligently" taken their prophylactics, very interesting! You can see in the thread "Proguanil and Chloroquine" the comments I made about myself and my husband. During five years in Nigeria and many more in Kenya, I have never had malaria. I was always very diligent about taking the tablets and reminding my husband to take his. In Nigeria he had to work away from home for two weeks now and again and without the reminder he forgot to take the odd tablet with the result that he was very ill indeed. I have had conversations with permanent residents on the Kenya coast re malaria and what they do to prevent it. Many said they go for "the cure" and some took prophylactics during the rains when there were more mosquitos around. It is a serious business and certainly people who go to Africa as tourists are foolish if they don`t protect themselves against malaria. As for "shots" advice should be sought on what is required and the appropriate immunisation taken. Pat -- Pat Anderson |
#5
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There's the point Pat. Take the drugs and you probably WON'T get
malaria. Take the homeopathic snake-oil and if you get bitten, you probably WILL get malaria. I have spoken with countless numbers of people who prefer to resort to the cure (usually fansidar or quinine) only when the get the disease. I guess that's a valid way to live IF, AND ONLY IF, you are aware of the malaria danger, you know and recognise the symptoms, and you do something IMMEDIATELY you think you have malaria. I have a saying that's a bit harsh, but I told my friend this after her brother died from the disease "Michael didn't die from malaria, he died from ignorance and stupidity". It still makes me mad to think that a bright, intelligent, 22-year old life, with so much potential and future could be cut short by a completely preventable disease. If he had listened to me, he'd still be alive. I'll say it again... This is not Disneyland!!! Regards, Marc On Fri, 26 Nov 2004 09:56:40 +0000, Pat Anderson wrote: In message , Marc Lurie writes On Thu, 25 Nov 2004 21:29:06 +0100, "Jean-Marc V. Liotier" wrote: Now on the subject of "natural" medicine : please don't fall for that bull****. Jean-Marc, you deserve a round of applause. I posted a long, probably boring tirade about "natural" and homeopathic medicine, but could not have put it as succinctly or as emphatically as you did in one line. Regards, Marc Marc, I found the statement you made about having never known anyone contract malaria who had "diligently" taken their prophylactics, very interesting! You can see in the thread "Proguanil and Chloroquine" the comments I made about myself and my husband. During five years in Nigeria and many more in Kenya, I have never had malaria. I was always very diligent about taking the tablets and reminding my husband to take his. In Nigeria he had to work away from home for two weeks now and again and without the reminder he forgot to take the odd tablet with the result that he was very ill indeed. I have had conversations with permanent residents on the Kenya coast re malaria and what they do to prevent it. Many said they go for "the cure" and some took prophylactics during the rains when there were more mosquitos around. It is a serious business and certainly people who go to Africa as tourists are foolish if they don`t protect themselves against malaria. As for "shots" advice should be sought on what is required and the appropriate immunisation taken. Pat |
#7
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No.. yellow fever shot is not required...nothing is required...it's your
own choice to have them |
#8
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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! |
#9
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If you want to know what Africa is all about you should ask a "true"
African....I have talked to many "Kenyans" and they tell me how wonderful and beautiful Kenya is and thier lives..the people....warm..friendly..happy..their values..traditions..the African way. they are happy people.if you go to Kenya you are going to a place where people are true ..noone will say thank you or sorry unless they really mean it....and they go for the heart..I could listen to their charming stories all day.. That is how I found Kenya to be...... That is the place I love..... from usa |
#10
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Hi,
Marc Lurie wrote in message . .. Sure, these are anecdotal, however, I'm pretty sure that good scientific enquiry will confirm most of what I said. Mmmmhhhh. To get a definete answer on the effectiveness of chloroquine+proguanil you'd need a randomized trial with such a large number of participants that it'd be financially unaffordable. For that reason we have to rely on studies with a lower level of evidence. To my best knowledge, in case of chloroquine+proguanil there are basically three reasons why an increasing number of scientists discourage patients from taking the combination: 1. Adverse reactions & low compliance (as previously discussed) 2. A relatively large number of patients who have caught malaria despite of taking the drugs: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5028a1.htm http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/q..._uids=12757688 3. A lack of propper evidence that proguanil really increases the effectiveness of chloroquine. (Treatment studies and laboratory examinations clearly show chloroquine resistance is very common in subsaharan Africa. It's easy to perform such studies as the genetic mutation responsible for chloroquine resistance is well known.) |
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