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Staying Healthy on the Road Medical info, e.g. malaria, vaccinations, travel medical tips, medical insurance, where to find a doctor.
Photo by Marc Gibaud, Clouds on Tres Cerros and Mount Fitzroy, Argentinian Patagonia

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Photo by Marc Gibaud,
Clouds on Tres Cerros and
Mount Fitzroy, Argentinian Patagonia



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Old 21 Dec 2011
langebaan sunset's Avatar
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Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: South Africa
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Malaria stuff - our take

Hi folks

We just did 1 year on the road UK to Cape Town via West Africa see Latest news / About us - Langebaan Sunset - Stonehenge UK to Cape Town SA - 2010/11

  • We bought Doxy in SA before we flew back to UK to start trip - much cheaper (we did suffer from sun sensitivity)
  • We also took Malerone as a treatment if we got Malaria - got spares from friend who is a doctor in UK
  • We also took a few test kits (finger ***** blood test) easy to use but no substitute for seeing a doctor and getting a proper second opinion.
  • When you get into the Tropics / Malaria areas buying pills is OK as long as you go to a dispensing clinic or pharmacy. We saw a lot of people taking Coartem that is one of the main treatments - locals don't tend not to take prophylaxsis.
  • Remember - Malaria kills a lot of folk and they need access to the "real" treatments. Our experience was it was available in most medium sized towns and the cheap / fake pills tended to be in markets or street stalls.
  • You can spot branded real pills Vs fake imports simply from the establishment and people selling them. Fake ones tend to be stacked in piles being sold for pennies. Real medicines purchased in clinics and pharamacies were properly packaged and dated. A lot of African places that sold proper medicines were run by trained people who knew what they were talking about and we had no problems buying medicines there.
  • Just don't rely on taking nothing with you or putting off getting anything until such time you reach the tropics.
  • We took precautions and covered up at dawn and dusk.... a good tent with moz mesh and DEET to spray on clothes worked well.
  • DEET on skin felt liked it was burning so we stopped applying it and used Skin So Soft from Avon and Autan.... both a lot less aggressive and kinder to the body - especially if you are in the tropics for extended periods (6 months for us).
  • Next time - we might not take the Doxy and simply monitor the situation and have test kits and treatment. See how you get on with what ever pills you take - we did a trial run for 1 week on Doxy.... just make sure you eat food before you take the pills.
HTH

Nick
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Langebaan Sunset - Africa Overland
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