This discussion is now closed.

Check out other Related discussions

Malaria

i read that they are developing a new malaria vaccine within the next 6 years to prtoect people living in africa etc.

Currently if you want to go on holiday you have to have a course of pills to prevent you getting malaria, but is there no way you could have injections instead of this? And couldnt they use the same thing to use in africa to prevent them getting malaria?

because in my gap year i want to travel to india and africa so would need anti malarial stuff, but i cant swallow pills, so is there no way i could go?

i thought this was the best place to ask this, sorry if i was wrong

Reply 1

nolybear

hey im going to africa for a month in july so ive been given this info about anti malria drugs:

There is currently a choice of three. Although no antimalarial is 100% effective at preventing malaria, each does the job and each has pros and cons.

Surgeries can’t give definitive advice until about 2 months before you travel in case the recommended medications are changed (due to resistance in the local malarial parasites)

Doxycycline one 100mg capsule daily.
Start two days before travel, throughout your stay in an endemic area and continue for four weeks after return.
Does carry some risk of photosensitisation i.e. can make you prone to sunburn. It’s also an antibiotic so you can get side effects like thrush. Taking the dispersible form with food is kindest to the stomach.
This is the cheapest option

OR
Mefloquine (Lariam) one 250mg tablet weekly.
Start two and a half weeks before travel, throughout your stay in an endemic area and continue for four weeks after return.
Patients with a history of psychiatric disturbances (including depression) should not take mefloquine as it may precipitate these conditions. It is now advised that mefloquine be started two and a half weeks before travel.
Medium price option

OR
Malarone one tablet daily.
Start two days before travel, throughout your stay in an endemic area and continue for one week after return.
It is a relatively new treatment and is virtually free of side effects.
It is also a lot more expensive than the others.

oh and start taking these things called garlic pearls aswell, suppsodly the garlic in your sweat putsthem off

Reply 2

Huw Davies

11

You can't swallow pills at all?

For most pills you could powderify and take them in water, although some capsules are designed to help drug delivery.

If you genuinely can't take pills at all under any circumstances you will not be able to take malaria prophylaxis which would make your spending a long time in an endemic area unsafe.

A friend of mine did spend 2 months in Kenya last year taking no functional prophylaxis (homeopathic tablets) and wasn't ill but it is a gamble.

Reply 3

username43584

8

There is no malaria vaccine. There's always been one "in progress" but none have shown to be effective enough during trials.

Pills or nothing really. Nothing probably isn't a good idea.

Reply 4

bright star

1

don't choose the Larium.

Reply 5

Nasher and Basher

2

I went to Kenya and my friend couldnt take tablets, so she opened the pill up in her hand and swallowed it like that and then drank water. It worked for her, it might for you.

We took this one:
Doxycycline one 100mg capsule daily.
Start two days before travel, throughout your stay in an endemic area and continue for four weeks after return.
Does carry some risk of photosensitisation i.e. can make you prone to sunburn. It’s also an antibiotic so you can get side effects like thrush. Taking the dispersible form with food is kindest to the stomach.
This is the cheapest option

I have been told that sleeping with a pig, is also preventive against malaria. As they prefer animal blood.

Reply 6

AEH

8

Just a note, this is advice given by prefreshers, students and punters, not advice from an authority or expert. I would definitely consult your GP about this rather than a forum. I know its a bit more work and probably quite fussy and what's written here may well be right, because I don't know myself. But I can't emphasis enough how giving advice in this manner can put you in a very bad ethical position. I might sound like a nasal voiced traffic warden with this, but it really is a very silly thing to be doing.

Reply 7

Huw Davies

11

bright star

don't choose the Larium.

I had no problems on Lariam - severe side-effects are pretty rare.

AEH's caveat is a very important one. Get proper advice from someone qualified to give it!

Reply 8

alex p

11

if youre worries about w/e i is not working drink tonic water while youre there, quinine is antimalarial from what i remember

Reply 9

exit.music

nolybear

oh and start taking these things called garlic pearls aswell, suppsodly the garlic in your sweat putsthem off

Yeah but then you end up smelling like a %%%%%%%%ing spaghetti bolognese :P

Reply 10

Huw Davies

11

The quinine content of modern tonic water is negligible.

Reply 11

m197

11

i remember when i used to go to sudan on holiday to visit family we used to have to have some tablets. i think most of the time they were the mefloquinine. i also remember that there was a syrup, i cant remember the name but it was red and the bottle had a big green mosquito drawn on it.

AEH

I would definitely consult your GP about this rather than a forum.

i agree. speak to your GP and see what they say.

Reply 12

Helenia

20

Huw Davies

The quinine content of modern tonic water is negligible.

Plus most malaria in Africa is quinine resistant, otherwise we'd still be using it!

Reply 13

Annaconda

OP

17

yeah dont worry i will consult a GP, i just wanted to get an idea of the options before, so i could understand what they were saying a bit more.

Thank you for your advice vereyone :smile:

Reply 14

RetiredAccount89

18

Heres the best advice. Take the damned pills. You can't swallow them? Do you have a feeding tube of some descript? methinks not.
Can you swallow pees and food? methinks so.

I used to have this exact problem. The easiest solution is this. Get a bicuit, banana or any other food source and chew it till you have a decent sized bolus of food in your mouth ready for swallowing. Open mouth, push pill into said bolus, then swallow.

Ironically its sometimes the small size of pills that makes swallowing hard for some.

Use that method and you'll be fine.

Reply 15

bright star

1

Huw Davies

I had no problems on Lariam - severe side-effects are pretty rare.

AEH's caveat is a very important one. Get proper advice from someone qualified to give it!

i apologise, what i mean is that personally i'd be more inclined to have malaria than take lariam but as this is personal opinion, you can do as you wish.

Reply 16

exit.music

I took Malarone when I went to Africa. It was fine actually for me, i had no side effects and didn't get malaria! It's also only a one-a-day thing as well (if I remember rightly). The only downside is that it was really expensive, it cost me about £80 for 3 weeks.

Tip for you though - when you get your prescription, shop around. I was quoted about £20-£30 more for Malarone at Lloyds, than I was for the same thing at a little local pharmacy.

Reply 17

Huw Davies

11

bright star

i apologise, what i mean is that personally i'd be more inclined to have malaria than take lariam but as this is personal opinion, you can do as you wish.

Take it you were one of the unlucky ones then? Sorry to hear it and no need for you to apologise!

Malaria

Related discussions

Latest

Trending

Trending

Articles for you