We went for our shots today in preparation for our trip to Lanka in January next. Our Doctor thought it necessary for us to take Malaria tabs. We hope to visit Sigiriya, Dambulla and possibly Uda Walawe. We are bringing our 7 yr old and 10yr old with us. We are now somewhat confused as to what to do. Shoud we opt for the malaria tabs which type should we take? I understand some are very expensive and some are not suitable for children. Wouold be very grateful for any advice you could give us on this.
Thanks in advance
Jody
yes, malaria tabs once againHi,
Sigirya and Dambulla are listed as being safe from Malaria. Udawalawe is generally accepted as having a very , very rare incidence of malaria.
But,,, with flying insects nothing can ever be 100%. Infected insects could get into a car or bus or train and travel from an infected area to a clear area... Who Knows.
So, no 100 % guarantee can be made although the places you%26#39;ve listed are generally accepted as safe.
I never take antimalarials in Lanka even when I visited the north east which is the most infected area.
I do rely on slapping on plenty of good repellant.
Regarding which one to take, if you do decide. Your doctor should be able to sort that for you.
Different areas mantain different strains of the desease so require different drugs.
Whats effective against malaria in Africa may not be any good in Sri Lanka and vice versa.
As far as your children are concerned, I%26#39;d think you have to sort that out between you and your doctor or some other trained medic. If I was worried about my kids safety I certainly wouldn%26#39;t accept what a complete stranger told me over the internet.
Well meaning or not, whatever is recommended on here is only the personal opinion of the poster.
What all that comes down to is, I don%26#39;t think you have anything to worry about if you use a good repellant, but I%26#39;m no medical expert and I%26#39;m not sure that anyone else is on here..
Rod.
yes, malaria tabs once again
Hi Jody
I completely agree with Rod%26#39;s advice. It is a confusing issue and we always take our own precautions when we are in SL, rather than use anti-malarials. Even if they are the correct tablets (always a debatable issue) they are no protection against other mosquito borne diseases.
The most effective deterrent we have found is a sticky repellent lotion containing Deet - the Boots one. The spray on ones are more pleasant to use, but I still ended up with a few bites. The lotion is totally effective because it IS sticky. Any insect daring to land on my exposed skin meets a sticky death ... and no bites! Ha, ha!
No need to inflict this stuff on your body during the daylight hours, but put it on at dusk when the dangerous mosquitoes become active.
Cheers
Sue
Yes I also agre with the above, We also do not take maleria pills either in Lanka. They only make you sick and put you off food. Get some spray with 30/50% deet in it from any chemist ie lloyds /boots. apply on sun going down. get a local spray for your room from a food city. spray before you go out at night and keep your windows and doors shut. I only got 5 bites in 3 weeks. it is in the north were maleria is rife, so you will be ok
Steve.
Hi Jody
Completely agree with above replies, i don%26#39;t take the pesky things either, spent 5 nights in Dambulla, now at Ahungalla, use AUTAN every night and so far so good, no bites !
Regards
Dave
On Duty at Heritance Ahungalla, today a welcome change in weather, return to very hot and sunny after several days of very unsettled stuff !!
I agree somewhat with the other posters i had to take palodrin and advaclor which did nothing but give me the trots i prefer to pay the prescription for Larium as i swear by them in Africa better to be safe than sorry thats my motto but the decision is down to you. Lariam is one tablet a week but it does have side affects just speak to you G.P. especially where the young ones are involved enjoy your holiday me and o/h loved it so much we ended up getting married there regards Boogy264
I’m still a bit unsure what I’m going to about malaria tablets.
The thing is, I usually do cover myself with plenty of mozzie repellent with 50% deet, but still got loads of bites last year in Thailand. Not sure what I’m doing wrong when applying it. Don’t especially fancy taking the malaria tablets but I’m wondering if it’s worth the risk.
As a nurse who has seen malaria first hand I would always recommend anti malarials. It only takes one bite and you could be the unlucky one.
Bethspoon
Jodyr here, who posted the original query. My problem originally was which approprieate marlaria regimen to follow. The information on this is variable - depending on which foreign travel website your GP uses. I didn%26#39;t want to be taking the wrong malaria tabs - they are horrible enough to take without the poosibility of they being ineffective.
Having researched it myself on the net using foreign travel websites it appears to me that correct one is a combination of chloroquina and proguanil with Malarone being an alternative if the former could not be tolerated. I asked three different GPs and I got 3 different answers over the last few weeks. Anybody else got any ideas on this? Curious.
Jodyr
I just off to the doctors to get my Tetanus, Typhoid and something else done...
Apparently they take 2 weeks to start working after you have the injection.
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