Malaria tablets

How long should I commence my course of malaria tablets before I leave for
Kenya?

Cheers.

Bobby

In message
"Bobby" wrote:

How long should I commence my course of malaria tablets before I leave for
Kenya?

It depends on what you're taking.
Your doctor/travel nurse surely told you?
(It's always written on every packet I've had.)

Slainte

Liz

--
Virtual Liz now at http://www.v-liz.com
Kenya; Tanzania; Namibia; India; Seychelles; Galapagos
"I speak of Africa and golden joys"

I now know. Two weeks before leaving and continue for another six. One
tablet per week.

Do they have any side-effects?

Bobby

"Liz" wrote in message
...
In message
"Bobby" wrote:

How long should I commence my course of malaria tablets before I leave
for
Kenya?

It depends on what you're taking.
Your doctor/travel nurse surely told you?
(It's always written on every packet I've had.)

Slainte

Liz

--
Virtual Liz now at http://www.v-liz.com
Kenya; Tanzania; Namibia; India; Seychelles; Galapagos
"I speak of Africa and golden joys"

"Bobby" wrote in message
...
I now know. Two weeks before leaving and continue for another six. One
tablet per week.

Do they have any side-effects?

Bobby

They all have side effects. Which one are you taking?

--riverman

"Bobby" wrote in message
...
I now know. Two weeks before leaving and continue for another six. One
tablet per week.

Do they have any side-effects?

Bobby

They all have side effects. Which one are you taking?

--riverman

"riverman" wrote in message
...

"Bobby" wrote in message
...
I now know. Two weeks before leaving and continue for another six. One
tablet per week.

Do they have any side-effects?

Bobby

They all have side effects. Which one are you taking?

--riverman

Well, looking at the one tablet per week it should be Lariam. Then 4 weeks
continuation on return should be enough. But everybody says something
else....

Herb

"Herb Miedema" wrote in message
...

"riverman" wrote in message
...

"Bobby" wrote in message
...
I now know. Two weeks before leaving and continue for another six. One
tablet per week.

Do they have any side-effects?

Bobby

They all have side effects. Which one are you taking?

--riverman

Well, looking at the one tablet per week it should be Lariam. Then 4 weeks
continuation on return should be enough. But everybody says something
else....

You're right that it must be Lariam (Mefloquine). AFAIK, that's the only
weekly med. But I can't find any resources that say to continue it for
another six weeks....everything I find says 3-4. Considering the price of
the pill (in the US, I believe its over $50 a pop), I'd go for 3 weeks
afterwards, and call it good. I'm not a doctor, but I can find several dozen
who would agree...

--riverman

Bobby: yeah, there can be side effects with Lariam. The major one is
psychotic episodes, but to my knowledge, the vast majority of folks have
either no effects at all, or just get some really great dreams. If you are
going to go psychotic, it happens with the first dose, so that gives you
time to return the rest of the meds and get something else. Also, last I
heard, the most effective med is still Doxycycline. It can be used a
preventative (prophylaxis) and as a treatment, but its a daily pill and can
make you nauseus if you don't eat something beforehand. And you NEED a
probotic with it, or else you will get thrush, and mouth sores.

--riverman

Not that much. $9 - $11 per pill.
Many insurance policies will pay most of the cost.

I will be taking some type of Malaria pills when I go to SA
and Zimbabwe. Fortunagely, I can afford the pills and won't
have to take them very long.

What do people living in Malaria area do? I doubt that most can
afford the cost of the pills. I doubt that the entire population
spends their entire life taking the pills. If Malaria ia the
threat that the western doctors say it is, there must be a lot
of people dying from it every day all over the world.

In message %HRId.18889$P04.10325@attbi_s03
Odysseus wrote:

What do people living in Malaria area do? I doubt that most can
afford the cost of the pills. I doubt that the entire population
spends their entire life taking the pills. If Malaria ia the
threat that the western doctors say it is, there must be a lot
of people dying from it every day all over the world.

About a million per year, 90% in Africa, according to
http://lists.kabissa.org/lists/archi.../msg01380.html

.... which is about the same as the info I got from a UK development agency.

One of the problems with medication is that new strains of malaria evolve
which are resistant to the anti-malarials.

Slainte

Liz

--
Virtual Liz now at http://www.v-liz.com
Kenya; Tanzania; Namibia; India; Seychelles; Galapagos
"I speak of Africa and golden joys"

Odysseus wrote:

What do people living in Malaria area do? I doubt that most can
afford the cost of the pills. I doubt that the entire population
spends their entire life taking the pills. If Malaria ia the
threat that the western doctors say it is, there must be a lot
of people dying from it every day all over the world.

World Health Organization:

A visit to the paediatric ward or to the general outpatient department of most hospitals
in tropical Africa is all that is needed to convince a visitor that malaria remains a
major cause of mortality and morbidity in African children.


Medicins Sans Frontieres:

With 16 million cases every year, malaria is the leading cause of mortality and morbidity
in Tanzania. It is estimated that 93.7 % of Tanzania's 32.8 million people are at risk
of the disease