hi - we are going to south africa in a couple of months and i wanted to know which anti malarial is safe for kids. we will be in kruger park in south africa for five days which i think is the only malarial area that we will be going into. my children are three and five and i'm curious what other parents have chosen for their child's antimalarial and if it had any negative side effects on the children. also do they have a drop or dissolvable version for young kids? thanks.
1
pia2am
I would talk to a proper traveldoctor. It´s too serius to deal with on an internet forum.
Have a great trip, travelling with kids is fantastic.
2
kwing79
yes we have an appointment at a trave clinic in a few weeks i just wanted to get some first hand information from parents who have gone through this. thanks.
3
momof4
We have older kids - 8 & 12 and we are going to be in SEA and SA not africa but my kids will be taking Malarone for pretty much the whole time we are gone (12 months) since although we will sometimes be in places where the malaria rate is low we will always be somewhere in a malarial zone. We had a practice three days to make sure the kids could tolerate them (ad swallow the pills!) and it went fine. My dr. says there should be no side effects or repercussions so we will see how it goes.
4
EscapeArtistes
blog
My son, who is ten now, has used both Malarone and Lariam on occasion from age two with no side-effects, also repellents with DEET.
@Momof4 many parts of SEA are so low risk that you can stop the Malarone for a bit, which, given the cost of the stuff, is certainly worthwhile. Check NHS Fit for Travel malaria map for details. We've been in SEA for over a year with a stop in Australia, and currently not on anything as Bali's low risk.
5
matt3
Hi
Our 4 year old took Malarone Junior for one week in Malaysia last year with no side effects. It was in tablet form, tasted awful (apparently!) and very challenging for her to swallow. We tried a pill cutter to cut into 2 smaller pieces but she preferred only having to swallow one piece. We would put the tablet with icecream to make it easier although I imagine this might be hard to come by in Kruger.
I would also like to know if there is a drop version.
6
momof4
Hey Theodora, yeah, I never took anti malaria anywhere in Indonesia when I was there before certainly not in Bali but this time I just want to have them in case and fortunately insurance covers the cost (although it will be a pain carrying so many pills with us) Did you take them while you were in Borneo?
7
EscapeArtistes
blog
Yes. We used them in Borneo, Cambodia, Laos, some of Vietnam. In Indo we used in Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Maluku, not Bali. We used in Philippines for Palawan. We were on them for quite a long time, actually, as we weren't in non-malarial regions long enough to come off. You can buy in Borneo, if you do run out. Can't buy in Philippines. Breaking them out of the blister packs and putting them in a bottle or a bag really reduces the space issue.
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