Malaria precautions
Do most guests take the malaria prophylaxis for visit to Victoria Falls during the rainy season (Feb). Any suggestions/advice would be welcome.
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Do most guests take the malaria prophylaxis for visit to Victoria Falls during the rainy season (Feb). Any suggestions/advice would be welcome.
Comments
I'll be going in May. My travel clinic doctor prescribed Malarone. I know that there has been a discussion on the Forum about the gastrointestinal problems that that drug has caused many people; however, I'm planning to follow my doctor's advice...which is what you should do, too. (And I do have a prescription for an antibiotic if I get a severe case of diarrhea.)
When I went, they recommended Malarone. Took it with no problems. You can purchase Malarone in South Africa without a prescription. If I remember correctly a package was about $50.
Will people really scout round for a pharmacy when they get there?
I didn't have any problem finding a pharmacy and purchasing Malarone. Your mileage may vary.
If my memory serves, you are supposed to start taking it several days before you get there. If you plan on taking it, you need to make sure you also purchase Imodium.
The instructions say to start one day before entering the area where Malara is endemic. If you enter South Africa through Cape Town, you can purchase your Malarone there and start taking it one day before you leave for Victoria Falls. Clicks is a good, very large pharmacy.
Probably similar if you enter through Joburg.
Here's a map
Here's another map of malaria risk. This map shows Victoria Falls.
Here's the CDC information in a slightly different presentation than what Mike provided.
There's probably a pharmacy in the airport.
We are going in September. Although this information is very helpful and informative, we will be going to our international travel clinic and follow their recommendations. We took Malarone when in Kenya and Tanzania and we had no problems with it. We also have a supply of Imodium and an antibiotic for traveler’s diarrhea whenever we travel. We also bring along packets of Propel that can be added to water to replenish electrolytes just in case.
We took Malerone for about 12 trips with no problems until last trip. I still think people should take the meds as the CDC recommends, because as Jan says, most people are fine taking the meds as directed. We will try again next trip. We were in a malaria eradicated area until we got to Botswana and then Vic Falls in November so did not start taking Malaria meds until after we arrived in Africa. There were mosquitoes in the VictoriaFalls area. They were bothersome.
We always take Immodium, antibiotics and hydration powders. I needed all of those for my Malerone woes.
We went to our travel clinic recently for 2 upcoming trips including the South Africa trip. They advised returning shortly before our September trip to South Africa because the recommendations are undergoing revision.
Bucketlist, do they chart you per visit?
What does chart the visit mean? Do you mean charge? If so, my insurance covers it. This is a new place, Beth Israel Hospital. Most travel clinics near us have closed. We opted for expensive insurance (a federal plan with medicare part
since we travel overseas and want to return if we kick the bucket with the least expense!
Whoops, I should have said charge. The two travel clinics we used in the past closed even before the pandemic. We don’t use them anymore, we have all our shots and use the CDC for our malaria info, talk to our prImary physician and he prescribes them, usually via a phone message.
Thanks so much for all the info, and the maps. Makes it very easy to have a better idea. We aren’t traveling till Sept 2025, so understand that things can change. I’m trying to find a travel clinic near by.
Go to a travel clinic to get the information and then to Walgreens to get the vaccines. You’ll save an incredible amount of money.
It’s so long since I went to a travel clinic , don’t you pay a fee for the advice? Also, the clinic gave us the malaria meds back then and they charged a hefty fee for each pill. After speaking with our family dr who said he could prescribe the meds, we always got them from him and the pharmacy charged us hardly anything because it’s a generic drug these days.
Yes, there is more than a hefty fee, but for some people, the advice from a travel clinic might be worth it in order to understand what vaccines are important and necessary. Then, after that on another day, go to Walgreens or CVS to get the vaccines. You will save a bundle. When you go to a travel clinic, you don’t have to get the vaccines there. The prices at a travel clinic are astronomical. Yes, there is a fee for the appointment.
We paid no fee. We went to a travel clinic in a hospital that was covered by our blue cross insurance. A friend who went to a travel clinic paid an unreasonable amount of money and got bogus advice and unnecesary medication. We received pills for malaria because becasue the vaccines have not been proven effective yet. We went to South Africa in October.
It would be a good idea to ask your professional about the possible side effects of the medications. We took them without ill effects on four trips, but on our last trip we stopped taking them. Everyone in our tour except one stopped taking them for the same reason. Many of us were forced to miss one day of the tour or more. I think at least one of the choices of medication is known to produce fewer side effects.
Before you go to a travel clinic, I'd suggest that you check your local hospital. We found that the local hospital had a clinic that took good care of us at 1/5 the cost of a commercial establishment