The amount of doctors that don't know the area & go by govt. health 'ideals' is incredible. No one on here should say 'yay' or 'nay' to it all but getting advice from those who've done it before etc is invaluable.

Personally I've had malaria aged 13, I remember (bits of it) well, I was on Paludrine at the time which obviously had no effect in E.Africa. I've taken Lariam for each trip since it was first on the market. I do not have any vivid dreams & in fact sleep better with it. Malarone causes my hair to fall out ... Doxy I took years ago in Asia but don't like it due to the sun sensitivity factor & in Africa that can be dangerous for you.

I have a fantastic doctor in a hospital in Toulouse who really knows what she's talking about, travelled in Africa, lost her brother to malaria in Guinea & we agree on most things & she tells me what's new etc ... I've never had the rabies shot, she completely agrees with me that it's a waste of time as you need the antedote if you get bitten anyway!

As far as I am concerned FORGET THE COST - this is your life, you only have ONE!

IF YOU CAN AFFORD THE TRIP YOU CAN AFFORD WHAT'S BEST FOR YOU!

Kira

GP surgeries in the UK get their malaria prevention advice from Destinations - Fit For Travel This is actually an NHS Scotland site although it is the reference site for the NHS throughout the UK. I have been a GP for 25 years.

And the lowest cost malarone online where a prescriptions are issued online and are included in the price is Dr Fox Online Prescriptions | Anti Malaria Tablets UK | Malarone Pills This online clinic posts world wide. I own and run the website.

I have been a member this forum about 6 years. Own trip to Toaudenni. 80 or so previous posts about subjects other than health.

Opinions here seem to differ too much!?!

Several health info sites all agree Doxy is fine for ALL of Africa, (except one who says Mauritania only is different?)

Further down this forum someone has posted that they will have some Doxy left for sale after their trip if they carry on forgetting to take it like they have been doing!

Is the reason Doxy doesn't "work" because one pill a day is easy to forget?

Why would so many health professionals who create and use these sites, one of which is used in every GP surgery in the UK, continue to do so?

:confused1:

Fake meds could also be a reason for doxy not working. Malerone doesn't seem to be available outside the developed world, so less likely to be counterfeited, but doxy is available very cheap everywhere and really you've no way of telling whether it's real or not.

I read something ages ago about a scheme starting in Nigeria where you could text a serial number from your packet of meds to a central place and they'd tell you if they were genuine or not. Seems like a great idea, but I've not seen / heard anything about it since.

Hello - was interested to read this as I am off to Tanzania for a month in a couple of weeks.

As one does, I went to my GP last week to check on travel jabs and antimalarials. Travel jabs all up to date, but on the antimalarial front I was advised to take either Malarone or Doxycycline. I have some Doxycycline left over from my last trip, which was made by Cipla or Dr Reddy and bought in India. It's now either on the expiry date or a couple of months past it. I am also about 15 tablets short of the full amount needed for starting before I go and continuing for a month after I get back.

So - questions (probably ones that Tony ABC can best answer) - 1) Is the Doxycycline I've got still OK and 2) will I be able to buy more Doxycycline locally in Tanzania? Or should I say 'sod it' and go for Malarone?

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www.overlandcruiser.wordpress.com

here's a good overview for what works in Uganda. I guess that Tanzania won't be that different.

THE EYE MAGAZINE - National Lake Rescue Institute - Saving life on water

Hi Ilesmark. You can definately get doxy in Tanzania. I didn't need to get any there, but just stocked up in Nairobi at 3p per tablet. Presume you'll be arriving in Dar? If so there's plenty of pharmacies in the city where you should be able to get sorted out.

Get your antimalarials from my website. It is regulated in the UK by the Care Quality commission. You do not need to see a GP. You get advice from the UK NHS advice site. The prescription is included in the price. The tablets are posted from an NHS pharmacy in Glasgow and it is cheaper than anywhere else. What more can I say. Google Dr Fox and stop machinating.

TonyABC - thanks for advice, but at £100 a go for Malarone I will stop 'machinating' (I think the word you are looking for is 'vacillating' ) and stick with Doxycycline.

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www.overlandcruiser.wordpress.com

In my opinion, it's dodgy buying medicines online without consulting your doctor first. How do you know the patient's medical history, what other medicines he/she is taking? Pushing your service on people here doesn't feel right, sorry. But anyways, how would I know, you are regulated by the Care Quality commission or whatever.

Best regards.

I'm working in the Dem. Rep. of Congo at the moment as a medic.
I use Malarone to prevent and treat malaria.
I also use Optimal - IT as a malarial test kit - pretty reliable results so far.
Costs for Anti-malarials are about the same all over Europe.
Only buy after consultation with a Doctor or at a travel clinic.
Use anti-malarials along with mozzy net, spray and cover your skin up. It only takes one infected mozzy to pass on malaria. Educate yourself about Malaria.
Do not take anyones "side effects" stories as gospel. Everyone is different.

Happy Travelling.

..after almost 8 years on the road and traveling through a variety of malaria zones in order to get the most up to date information i also recommend the website :
Destinations - Fit For Travel

However, for other medical reasons neither my husband or i can use maralone and so our choice is limited mainly due to the length of time we are in malaria zones and the length of time it is practical to take some of the other drugs (other than doxy).

We have used doxy long term and have suffered little or no side effects. the sensitivity to sunlight is something to consider...but come on...if you are a motorcyclist arent you covered up for most of the time? Helmet, gloves, jacket and pants! your skin is not that exposed for the majority of the time and therefore not exposed to much sunlight!?

For most of our time in Africa (2 years) we took doxy and did not contract malaria.
for all of our time in malarial zones in south America we also took doxy. due to sickness ie vomiting my resistance was lowered (daily tablet -if you keep vomiting them up your protection is more than likely reduced) and at that point i contracted malaria.

Never, ever enter a malarial zones without taking prophylactic drugs.
Malaria is a killer -it is also the worst thing that I have ever ever experienced.

do your research - there's plenty of good and accurate advice out there. do not rely on heresay. visit the site mentioned above. go to your GP. they are trained medical professionals.....you take your motorbike to a BMW (or other) dealer for service/repairs/parts/advice don't you? if the mechanic then says...you urgently need to replace/repair/review something...do you discount his advice?
Of course doctors have their areas of 'specialty'....their advice is of course not 100% guaranteed but there are no guarantees in life - just best guess and their best guess is more qualified than yours.

At the end of the day - regardless of drug- regardless of side effect and regardless of cost...with first hand experience i can tell you - dealing with ANY of this is better than contracting malaria itself.

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Lisa
www.2ridetheworld.com

Doxy is in the medical sense not an antiprofilaxe but a antibiotic! It is known that antibiotic work against malaria but do you want to take antibiotics for a year, or two? I think if you devellop resistance againts antibiotics you'r in a world of trouble!

NEVER go into malaria area without taking profilaxe, the "I am on standby" system simply does not work because the most effective time to fight an upcoming malaria is during the first two days where it reveals itself with only very mild symptoms which make you wait for another day or so to see how it goes tomorrow. When you are starting to feel sick enough to get worried, you'r TOO late!! That is the big problem with malaria, it start off very mildly, like nothing to worry about, but you'r wrong. Last weekend 2 Dutch tourist died of malaria in Gambia, they did not take any profilax.

In Africa they have widespread available the Chinese 'wonderdrug' Artesunate or what ever name it carries but usually it contains ARTE. This is proven and cheap.

Myself, I have been on Lariam (myflocine) for a year, no problems what so ever but maybe I was lucky because some people are sensitive for the side effects (only 2%!!!)

cheers,
Noel

Having lived in worked in Africa for the past 5 years & contracted malaria 6 times you might find it strange that I continue not to take any form of anti malarial drug. I do however, have a good supply of coartem which is a form of the Chinese wonderdrug as a cure. It does the trick pretty good, second day of the 3 day course and normally I'm felling OK.

Available in major cities for a very resonable price in Africa. Wouldn't know where to get it in Europe or the US.

Not to say I don't take other precautions against malaria such as sleeping under a net, spraying my room before sleep and using repellant when available.

Yes malaria is a killer especially to pregnant mum's, kids under 5 & people with concurrent conditions such as thyphoid.

There have been more deaths in my small town here in Sth Sudan since they fixed the road than malaria deaths. Now everybody is recklessly speeding, literally causing carnage outside my residence. Will that stop people from overlanding through Africa?
CJ.

Yes, the key difference between residents and locals who are not taking any prophylaxis is that they have (normally) already attracted malaria several times so your bodies have built up some resistance, usually just enough not to die when you get it again and in any case you will recognize it in an early stage.

But for overlanders who's resistance system have never seen anything like the malaria parasite, the situation is quit different. It is essentially the same as 500 years ago when the Spanish invaded South America and caused havoc under the indigenous with a simple flu virus! They had no resistance at all and died by the millions. Neither do we overlanders have any resistance against malaria! And that is where the prophylaxis comes in! It won't prevent you from attracting malaria but it will prevent you from becoming fatally ill due to total absence of resistance!

Equally important as the prophylaxis is indeed prevention; before dusk put on long trousers, socks, shoes, repellent especially around the ankles, sleep under an impregnated mosquito net and avoid sleeping on the ground as the malaria mosquito has it working territory at low levels (around 30 cm), the obvious really!

Greets,

Noel