Buying Malarone in Bogota

Hi

Where could I buy Malarone in Bogota?

Many thanks

DOM

You can't, it's not available in South America. Doxycycline should be available.

Are you sure you want to take the malaria prophylaxis to travel in Colombia? Don't think you want to go deep into the jungle for a long time. If you are then you should consider, otherwise don't think you need it.

On the other hand consider taking the Yellow fever vaccine. Some years ago, they were asking the YF vaccine certificate in order to give admission to some parks as Tayrona, but last december all risks were under control (I travel to colombia every christmas, and by the way, i have never heard of a person who gets either malaria or yellow fever). So my personal advice is that, if you plan to go to any park, and stay a long time outside the cities on the coastal regions, take the YF vaccine(Yellow fever vaccination takes 2 weeks to become effective).
But think it twice before thaking Doxycycline, I've heard that side effects are pretty nasty.

Hi

Many thanks for the advice. Much appreciated. I'm going to Leticia... hence the need for malaria medication?!?

Do I need to take anything against malaria for the river boat journey to Manaus?

DOM

PS: I have YF vaccination

Just did the Leticia - Manaus trip last week - there are no mosquitoes at all due to the breeze from the moving boat. There are some pretty impressive cockroaches though, and some incredible characters on board. There's a post on my blog (apologies for the plug) about the experience - it's a quite amazing way to travel.

If you're going to do a jungle trip from Leticia you should probably take something for Malaria - I spent 4 (wonderful!) days on the Rio Javari about 6 hours from Leticia and there were significant numbers of mosquitoes there. Whether or not they were carriers I don't know, but I'd rather not take the chance myself.

Regarding Yellow Fever, you will be required to show your certificate at the Brazilian Policia Federale in Tabatinga in order to get into Brazil - if you don't have one or it's less than 10 days old, you ain't getting in. Since you have it, you'll be fine.

As for Doxycycline, I believe dicolloredomels has it confused with Lariam, which can have psychotropic side affects (depression, hallucinations etc) in a tiny minority of cases. I myself am taking it for the third time in five years and can report nothing more serious than some fairly weird dreams. Doxycycline is an antibiotic, which may make you photosensitive (ie more prone to burning in strong sunlight), but in general is considered pretty safe I think.

Hi James

Thanks for the info about Malaria medication. I enjoyed the blog too!

All the best

DOM