malaria tablets

[sarhem65]

Stopping off in Cambodia as part of cruise for 5 hours but have been told we need to take malaria tablets. Really don't like sound of side effects but also don't want to risk malaria. Any suggestions what to use to prevent bites. Do I need tablets for such short trip? Any help appreciated

[queenkay8]

Hi. I was in India a few months ago for work and the travel nurse recommened this: http://www.rei.com/product/686229/ultrathon-ultrathon-insect-repellent-34-percent-deet-2-fl-oz

 

It's a really thick lotion and doesn't smell so great but the bugs stayed away!

[sarhem65]

Thanks for reply. We're in UK so will see if we can source it here

[rum & monkey]

Have taken malaria pills (they were capsule form) for a trip to Venezuela and my daughter has taken them for a trip to Costa Rica both trips were at least a week though. In the states they are prescription and insurance does not cover them but they were not real expensive. If they are suggesting it, there is a reason they suggest it. I would definitely take it. I would much rather be safe than sorry. With the capsules you start taking it I believe it was ten days before you go, but that might be wrong. Not sure about Cambodia but I know with Belize if you stay in the city it is not a big deal but if you go into the jungle areas it is. You can check with your doctor and get his/her advise but it only takes one infected bite to contract it.

[sanger727]

You were told you need to take Malaria tablets by whom? Not familiar with the area but this may be worth doing more research to see if it's like Belize where some areas are considered "safe" and you only need the pills if you go into the jungle. You do need to take the pills for a couple weeks to a couple months depending on the pill; it may not be worth it for a 5 hour stop, as opposed to just skipping the stop and staying on the ship.

[Lady_Gamecock]

I was prescribed Malaria Tablets by Uncle Sam on a hitch to the Sandbox. I did not take the "horse pill sized tablets" and thankfully I came out OK. I did a lot of research and asking of questions to our guys already over there and fortunately, my gamble worked in my favor.

 

Like a previous poster asked, "WHO said to take them?" Just keep in mind, if you start them, take them at the correct intervals, and continue to take them after you return (I think for 10-days).

[pixiestyx]

I didn't take malaria pills when I went to Cambodia, but did when I went to Africa. I had a horrible reaction to them. I ended up skipping the pills and chancing the malaria.

[Lady_Gamecock]

I didn't take malaria pills when I went to Cambodia, but did when I went to Africa. I had a horrible reaction to them. I ended up skipping the pills and chancing the malaria.

 

That was the consensus from my guys; however, getting malaria (forever) is far worse than the pill side effects....

 

It's an educated decision the OP needs to make.

[Hoyaheel]

Also be aware there are more than 1 option for malaria prevention. What I took 15 years ago wasn't good for me. What I took 2 years ago was fine.

 

Here's some info on drugs/countries/side effects: http://www.cdc.gov/malaria/travelers/drugs.html

 

I would trust the word of a travel/infectious disease doctor. The last time I needed a prescription, I was in the office with my primary care provider, texting my boss (an infectious disease doctor who lives in Tanzania much of the year) about dosage for the prescription.

 

CDC and WHO have lots of information on malaria and traveler information.

 

http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/diseases/malaria

 

Mosquitos love me, so I bring as high a concentration of DEET as I can. My husband occasionally hunts in skeeter- friendly locations and he also sprays his underwear and socks with permethrin (repels mosquitos and ticks, to which he is especially susceptible).

[willing292]

The mosquitoes that carry malaria are, i believe the sunset and sunup type. Are you going to be ashore at theses times? If not, it's much easier to cover up and use deet.

[Bpos]

Taking malaria pills is a choice only you can make.

 

However, I have visited Cambodia and Vietnam about 12 times in the past 10 years, sometimes just for a day on a ship cruise or for periods up to three weeks. I did not take any tablets but made sure I had a good Deet spray with me to mainly use as soon a it started to get dark.

 

Dengue fever is more of a problem than malaria in these countries but if you take a few simple precautions like sprays, long pant and long sleeved shirts at night you should be ok without the need to take tablets.

 

All the expats I know who live in Cambodia and Vietnam do not take malaria tablets.

[Keith1010]

If you are staying near the port area you do not need to take Malaria Tablets.

 

Keith

[Sekhmet]

Sarhem, we were in Viet Nam and Cambodia earlier this year, and did take anti-malarials, but this was a two week land & river trip, so the requirements may be different.

 

I would suggest you contact your GP Surgery for advice - ours has a form to fill giving details of forthcoming travel, including places visiting, where we're staying, would be ever be far from medical help, what medication we're already taking and so on. Then, a few days later we go and see the Practice Nurse who then offers professional advice, and if necessary, raises a prescription.

[chrispb]

Stopping off in Cambodia as part of cruise for 5 hours but have been told we need to take malaria tablets. Really don't like sound of side effects but also don't want to risk malaria. Any suggestions what to use to prevent bites. Do I need tablets for such short trip? Any help appreciated

 

I've never taken anti-malaria tablets for Asia. If you are only in Cambodia for 5 hrs then I'm guessing you won't be out and about at night, anyway. Use deet during the day to protect against dengue and any other nasties.

[Apeeler]

Stopping off in Cambodia as part of cruise for 5 hours but have been told we need to take malaria tablets. Really don't like sound of side effects but also don't want to risk malaria. Any suggestions what to use to prevent bites. Do I need tablets for such short trip? Any help appreciated

 

Hi,

 

check out the following website as this is one of the sites the NHS/GP's use:

 

http://www.fitfortravel.nhs.uk/destinations/asia-(east)/cambodia.aspx

 

Oh and check out Amazon UK for 100% Deet as most if not all the chemists I've checked out only have 50% or less.

 

Andy :)

[maryann ns]

We were in Cambodia, Myanmar and Vietnam November and did not take malaria pills. You need to protect against Dengue anyhow and you can only do that with Deet. We did use a bit of repellent in the evenings in Siem Reap and during the day at Angkor Wat.

 

We took a day on Tonle Sap Lake and did not need repellent.

 

What on earth or you doing with only five hours in Cambodia?

[digitl]

We took Malarone without any side effects on a trip to Kenya, and will be taking it again for a one day excursion on a forthcoming trip to Indonesia.

 

I would prefer my pocket to be slightly lighter, and stay healthy, than take the (slight) risk of contracting malaria.

[John Bull]

I appreciate that advice on this thread is well-meaning - but the OP isn't going anywhere near India or Venezuela or Costa Rica or Belize or Kenya. :confused:

Worse than that, there are different strains of malaria in different parts of the world - tabs that will do the job in Latin-America for instance are totally ineffective in S E Asia.

 

Apeeler has linked the advice from the NHS Scotland.

That website is a damned-sight better than the awful re-vamp of the general NHS website,

http://travelhealthpro.org.uk/locations/cambodia/

but the advice is the same - malaria tabs should be atovaquone/proguanil OR doxycyline OR mefloquine, because mosquitos in Cambodia are resistant to the alternatives.

I think they're only available on prescription - which is a good thing because your surgery will ensure that you get the right ones, as well as good preventative advice (clothing etc). From memory, the less-expensive ones are more prone to side effects and involve a longer dose before & after your visit, but I think all involve taking the tab for some days before and after.

 

An alternative to malaria tabs, or as a belt-and-braces approach, there are a number of mosquito repellents on the market. "deet" is the magic word to look for, the product queenkay mentioned may have advantages over others but the important thing is that it does contain deet.

Because mosquitos also carry other infectious diseases, such as dengue fever, a repellent is well worthwhile.

 

Because you're only in port for a few hours the risk of a bite, and the risk of the biter being infectious, are low. Worth taking precautions, not worth being anxious.

Must be honest, we took no precautions - and survived ;)

 

Take a minibus to Ream Park, near there mebbe a long-tailed boat ride, and on the way back to Sihanoukville call in at the grubbiest fishing village you'll ever see - quite an eye-opener.

 

JB :)

Edited October 27, 2015 by John Bull

[digitl]

With your mention of Kenya you refer to my post. If you read it carefully, it did not recommend Malarone for any particular location but simply gave reassurance that we had not experienced problems with that compound. My reference to Kenya put it in context.

 

The rest of my post was an encouragement to take precautions. 'Because you're only in port for a few hours the risk of a bite, and the risk of the biter being infectious, are low' and 'Must be honest, we took no precautions - and survived' will be no consolation when occupying a hospital bed and is bordering on the irresponsible.

[John Bull]

With your mention of Kenya you refer to my post. If you read it carefully, it did not recommend Malarone for any particular location but simply gave reassurance that we had not experienced problems with that compound. My reference to Kenya put it in context.

 

The rest of my post was an encouragement to take precautions. 'Because you're only in port for a few hours the risk of a bite, and the risk of the biter being infectious, are low' and 'Must be honest, we took no precautions - and survived' will be no consolation when occupying a hospital bed and is bordering on the irresponsible.

 

 

Sorry, digitl, but strains & risks in Kenya & other places are irrelevant to the question, and merely mentioning malarone in response to a question about Cambodia gives the impression that it will do the trick, whether you actually recommend it or not.

Hence my post.

 

Can't help thinking you were being more than a little unfair by being selective in quoting me - you excluded "Worth taking precautions, not worth being anxious" from the middle of that quote.

And yes, the risks are indeed low. Fact. Just like robberies, terrorism, missing the ship, and other subjects which easily get blown out-of-proportion on many many threads on CC. Not suggesting anyone's (yet ;)) done that on this thread, but worth making the point.

Each must make their own decisions about precautions. In some places where the risks of malaria are greater, eg the Amazon, we've done the belt-and-braces of tabs and repellents. In the case of Cambodia, we didn't.

 

JB :)

Edited October 28, 2015 by John Bull

[digitl]

You fail to read/understand/appreciate what I posted: ' (I) did not recommend Malarone for any particular location but simply gave reassurance that we had not experienced problems with that compound. My reference to Kenya put it in context'. I did not say that because we used Malarone in Kenya it would be fine in Cambodia. I simply said we used it without any issues when we were in Kenya. A reference to side effects, not suitability for any location.

 

As it happens, and from your post, 'malaria tabs should be atovaquone/proguanil OR doxycyline OR mefloquine, because mosquitos in Cambodia are resistant to the alternatives'. Malarone is atovaquone/proguanil.

 

You did, indeed, say 'Worth taking precautions, not worth being anxious' but that reassurance was outweighed by your other assertions that risk is 'low'; assertions that you repeat above: 'And yes, the risks are indeed low. Fact'. Your additional suggestion that Deet, a compound that might only repel a percentage of insects, could be an 'alternative to malaria tabs' also suggests an approach to a real problem that could lead to a serious infection.

 

Without wishing to be alarmist, risk may be 'low', but 'low' is not zero and, until it is, I contend that it is irresponsible to suggest that not taking precautions in the form of a prophylactic is acceptable.

Edited October 28, 2015 by digitl

[John Bull]

Oooops, you're right - looks like I did screw up on the suitability of malarone :o

Because you back-tracked to make the point that you didn't actually recommend it, I didn't check ;). But yes, apologies, that's down to me.

No worries, I did put over the point I needed to make about malaria tabs being different in different parts of the world, and because like virtually all malaria tabs it is indeed a prescribed drug so no risk of any of us amateurs leading the OP down the wrong path.

 

My phraseology was to pre-empt alarmism about the risks - something which I see all too often on Cruise Critic forums, a problem which you too appear to appreciate.

 

"Low risk" is fact especially on a port-of-call visit, worth taking precautions is sound, that we didn't is an honest statement about our decision based on the very low level of risk and matched the decisions of fellow-passengers.

 

BTW, I wasn't prompted to post by just your mention of Kenya - by the time you posted, this thread had already travelled halfway round the world :D

 

JB :)

Edited October 28, 2015 by John Bull