Have you ever caught Malaria?

how high risk is the area? where are you going?

you DON'T want to catch malaria. i think you're best taking your doctors advice.

I would venture to say that less than 0.001% of foreigners visiting Thailand have ever caught malaria - probably less.

I know several people who have gotten malaria in Indonesia, but, so far, none in Thailand. The Dengue in Thailand is pretty bad, though. With Dengue, you sometimes bleed to death, but usually you just become sick and weak for a very long time. I'd wear plenty deet anywhere you see mosquitos if I were you. There's no antibiotic you can take against Dengue.

Get new doctor. I can't see how an antibiotic is going to do anything about malaria.

I lived in Thailand full time for two years, half-time now for 2.5 years - and have never taken anything for malaria. Thousands of expats live in Thailand and take nothing. I don't know anyone who has caught malaria.

Dengue - you do sometimes hear about - but quite infrequently. It is more of a problem the second time you catch it.

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<hr>Get new doctor. I can't see how an antibiotic is going to do anything about malaria.<hr></blockquote>

Stuff and nonsense. Doxycycline is indeed an antimalarial with proven effectiveness. What's more, it's also effective for treatment of malaria. Note that children should not take it.

I did my senior thesis on malaria in college. My understanding is that the Anopheles mosquito that carries the malaria parasite lives almost exclusively in rural areas. That may be why "Thousands of expats live in Thailand and take nothing." Expats are concentrated in BKK, Pattaya, Phuket, and other big cities. If you're going trekking or to other rural areas, maybe you should consider doxycycline. Lariam- aka mefloquine- can cause "vivid dreams" and in a VERY VERY SMALL % temporary psychosis (often in those with underlying mental illness). Most of Southeast Asia is chloroquine resistant. Note that malaria is more common in some neighboring countries, such as Laos (still in rural areas, though).

I'm going to Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia this summer. (More mosquitoes during the rainy season, too.) I'll be taking doxycycline, but I'll buy it in Bangkok when I get there, as it's cheaper there.

Domitian,
Do you know of a place where I can get Doxycycline in Bangkok once I'm there.

Thanks.
Marie

What "malarial areas" in Thailand are you talking about? Unless you're planning on camping or trekking in the remote border districts you do not need to take malarials in Thailand. If you're doctor says you do, get a second opinion (off a doctor,not this board!)

The best sure is prevention - dress sensibly, use repellent and don't sleep naked in a swamp.

I have lived in Thailand for 3 years, and been here a lot over the last 10. The only person I know who went to hospital for malaria in Thailand had just come from Africa. In some parts of rural Cambodia it is widespread, and in some border regions. I haven't heard of anyone getting infected with malaria in Thailand.
5. There are also a consideable number of expats living well away from main centres of population.

I have been in Southeast Asia since 1997. I have two residences - one in Bangkok, one in Siem Reap.

While someone can come on here and tell you about their friend that picked up malaria on Koh Chang or wherever, and no one denies that it's a nasty nasty illness, your chances of getting malaria are extremely remote. In eight years the only cases of malaria on foreigners that I know of is one expat who had spent considerable time on the Thai/Cambodia border in very rural locations. And those of us that have lived here a year, five years, twenty years - never take malaria meds and none of us are catching malaria. And even if we live in urban areas, where it was correctly pointed out malaria is far less common to non-existent, we still travel through the same areas as tourists and are exposed to the same mozzies.

I'll make the obligatory "Don't listen to me because I am not a doctor" qualifier, but personally, unless you plan to spend a bit of time deep in the jungle, naked even - I would not bother with malarial meds. Of course a GP back in the UK will recommend the meds, you asked him, he looked it up in reference manual, saw that the region is listed as malarial and figures you better take the meds because if he doesn't make the recommendation and you do catch malaria you'll come back and sue him. Works in the States, anyway.

Anyway again, the decision is yours, but several hundred thousand westerners are living in SE Asia, we are not taking malaria meds and we're not dropping dead from the disease.

Now someone brought up dengue - some regions, such as Siem Reap, Cambodia are heavily infected with dengue and if you were to live here you would probably catch dengue within two years. Almost every westerner living here has caught it (self included). However, while there is the chance of bleeding to death (something less than 0.1% of cases - I looked it up recently and I think it was about 0.05, or one in two thousand), most cases of dengue though uncomfortable, are not serious. In its mildest form you may not even know you have it until the rash shows up and then you wonder why you've had a bad headache for three days. Most likely, you'll feel really crappy for a week (fever of 38 to 39, nasty headaches, pain in your joints and horrid pain in the back of your eyes) and have a four to six week recovery period (lethargy and psychological depression) but you've probably been sicker before. On the plus side, your chances of getting DHF are very remote.

Dengue you cannot yet do anything about though vaccines are in the trial stages. Personally, once the vaccine is on the market, though I will continue to question the need for malarial meds here, I certainly don't question the need for a dengue vaccine both for visitors and residents.