Is there Malaria in Indonesia?

#8 As well as deet not covering everywhere, I have encountered mossies who don't seem to mind the stuff. At the end of the rainy season in Jakarta about a year or so ago we had lots of mossies in my house which would happily land on skin still wet with fresh applied Off (or similar) and bite away quite happily. Maybe the Off was a bad batch without enough deet but the same mossies did not seem to mind mosquito coils either, flying through the smoke of a coil next to my feet and biting me. I moved out of that house a few months later, not for that reason, but living with some possible new strain of super-mosquito was rather annoying. Luckily Jakarta is free of malaria.

We always take something for malaria outside of Bali and Java, and these days, mefloquine seems to be most prescribed. Be aware that it can give you brutal nightmares, until you figure out that it's Lariam that's causing the nightmares,and use the old Carlos Castaneda trick of looking at your hands in the dream, gaining control of your dreamstate, and then surfing through your subconscious at will.
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Malarone (a combination of atovaquone and proquanol) was our drug of choice two years ago. It has a shorter lead and follow-up time, few side effects, and reasonable cost. It saves you the psychotic episodes of Lariam, and the sunburn risk and internal-flora disruption of doxy.
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I once had the task of taking a German guy from our guesthouse in Solo, Java, to the hospital by becak. His temperature was cycling from 104 degrees F to teeth-chattering chills on a 25-minute rotation, and he was delerious and incoherent, because he and his wife (a nurse!!!) decided to trust their luck. It ran out. Not a good way to spnd a holiday (or permanently impair your health) (or end your life).

Larium (also known as Mefloquine --- manufacured by Roche Switzerland) is started 2 weeks before and you continue for 4 to 6 weeks after leaving the area.

#11 I'm a fan of Malarone too and have used it in Aceh and Papua. I like the fact that it can be taken 1 day prior and 7 days after.

My wife and I do not take pills anymore when we go to the islands of Indonesia (my wife 10 times, I 6 times and I lived and went to school there as a boy). We were bitten like hell on Hoga island (SE Sulawesi) but there was no malaria nor dengue fever nor tbc on the island, in fact the people over there were very healthy. On Bali there is malaria i was told by a Balinese but i never met anyone who got infected on the island with malaria. On Lombok there is supposed to be malaria but same story there. I lived in Jakarta as a boy many years and we never took anything against malaria (i am not sure that antidotes existed at that time). None of the family got it. we made sure not to get bitten and used at that time a lot of ddt (!). My wife and I do use a lot of DEET repellent that seems to work perfectly towards these malaria mosquitos. You can buy smoke-spirals (Baygone) on the island, light it and put it near your feet in the evening. This helps as well. We also used sometimes a mosquito net when on the islands but I hate it since it makes the night unbearably hot when there is not much wind, no fan and airconditoning.
Jan de Nie

There is by all accounts no Malaria in Bali and essentially none in Java so probably if you are travelling only in these areas, it's not necessary. Elsewhere there is a varying level of risk. I live in Java and frequently go outside Java. I do not take anti-malarials, but mainly because my holidays into supposedly malarial areas are usually only a week long and the idea of forever going on and off the pills doesn't appeal. So far I've been fine (though i do take precautions - sleep under a net; use repellent etc.) and I don't know anyone else here whose had malaria. That said, before I came to live here I always took the pills when travelling in Indonesia. I took the good old-fashioned Chloroquine-proguanil combo, which is not the most effective but apparently still gives reasonable coverage for most of Indonesia, excluding Papua, and which in my experience has no side-effects.

I'm in Indonesia now and taking Malarone. Although I've had very little problems with mosquitos while being here (Bali, Lombok, and Sumbawa), I'm not sure why people suggest NOT taking malaria meds for occasional visits to endemic countries. I have had no side effects from Malarone and while I'm being really careful, mosquitos do find a way to bite! You start the day before getting to an endemic area (I didn't take it in Bali) and then only continue 7 days afterwards. Although malaria is very low in most tourist areas of Indonesia, I don't see the point in risking it, especially if you have no reaction to the meds. Ruining your vacation and being miserably sick with malaria seems like a much worse option!

Hi friends!

I'll be in Bali in September for 3 weeks, and while I have no plans to travel off island... yet.... who knows where the wind may blow? Lombok and Flores are looking tempting! I don't know if I will need an Anti-Malarial drug at all...So my question is this: Do I need to buy Anti-Malarial drugs in the US before I leave just in case or can I purchase Malarone at a chemist there?

I have seen that I can get doxycycline easily, but want to avoid long term antibiotic use, and Lariam is not a option for me.

Thank you all so much!
Meridith

Hi Friends!
My Guy and I are going to Bali for three weeks in September. If the opportunity arises we might travel to Lombok or Flores...we'll see where the road takes us. Should we buy Malarone in the states before we go, just in case, or is it available in chemists on Bali should we need it? I know doxycycline is available, but I would rather avoid long term antibiotic use, and Lariam is not an option for us.

Also, the boyfriend HATES pharmaceuticals....I can't say I blame him, but I'm totally willing to take the prophylactic if a chance to go somewhere wonderful arises, and he is hesitant...is there anything at all that is more on the organic/natural/homeopathic side that could be an option for him to research?

Thanks for all your wisdom!
Meridith

Whoops! Sorry for the double posting...my internet was wonky.

Meridith