Malaria

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Bali Diver

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Hi

Can anyone help me please.I was reading a thread about Malaria a couple of months ago and can't find the thread now and was very interesting and i can't find it now.Can anyone point me in this direction and is there anyone on here who know's a lot about this subject.Thanks
 
 
Thanks for links,found what i was looking for and that it was DocVingo i found had a lot of useful info

I am going to West Papua.east coast,island based for ywo months and the area is malaria risk.Was there last year and took Malaorone.to be honest before i was not too keen to take malaria tablets due to side effect and diving.But with malarone being new on the market and little side effects is ideal for us divers.

I was wondering are the others like doxycycline ok to take while diving,Malarone is new and very good.But only one supplier makes this,which is why it is expensive and as this trip is two months it is going to cost a lot of money with malarone.

If diving with doxycycline is ok then this would be a more affortable option.But a pain to take one month after trip compared to one week with malarone.

With sprays/lotion agree a good deet is needed and indeed ultrathon is good and one i use and agree anything more than 35% deet is pointless and i use the one with 19% during the day inbetween dives as it covers around 3 hours and use the one with 25% 8 hour cover once finished diving for the the day.

I feel that the deet % differents just mean the longer period it will last.

Any info that vit B Helps also and tahing something like marmite on toast etc.. daily can help as i find that it does help and as well as all other commom sense precaution and i always find lighting a candle at dusk in room effective.

Regarding Dengue fever am i right by saying pools of water are typical breeding area's also what prevents Dengue fever.
 
TWIME, I've spent quite a lot of time in West Papua and Irian Jaya (former name). Also have been there with multiple groups, land based and by liveaboard too.. 1 trip in 1990 another in 1994 then many since 1999.

If you are on a liveaboard it is not much of a concern, but if land-based you should use DEET and wear protective clothing in the evenings. If you do your research you will learn that candles and many other things that some people think help, don't. I've tested a lot of those ideas myself too here at home. Mosquitoes love me so I'm the perfect Guinea Pig.. but only at home where we don't have Dengue and Malaria.

We have a product here in the USA, Sawyers Controlled Release Repellent, 20% DEET. It works very well, is relatively innocuous and doesn't melt things plastic like full strength DEET will do. We've used it for years. In WP. I don't get bites when I wear it, which is any time I'm going to be exposed to mosquitoes. Those place are at a resort, in villages, in Sorong, in wet or damp vegetation, at the airport or on a ship downwind of a village or dive resort.

I take Doxycyline in WP. It does not have any side effects for me, but it does for some. Sun sensitivity is one and I've seen people have fairly bad reactions to Doxy and sun exposure. So you need to check it out. You wouldn't want to go there planning to use it and then find out you have to stop taking it.

I know that anyone going to an area like this.. WP, Solomons, PNG, etc. should take precautions. As far as I know there is nothing you can do to prevent Dengue except not get bitten by a mosquito. There was an outbreak of it in Bali in 2010. One of my marketing clients came home with it from Fiji. I brought a divemaster from Bali on a liveaboard trip in 2012 and he came down with it while we were in the Sumbawa area. NOT FUN. He was so sick... I gave up my bunk in a guest cabin for him the last days of the trip and would have done it sooner if I could have gotten one of the guests to agree to move cabins earlier. Applying repellent is a small price to pay for avoiding Dengue for sure!
 
Dengue is nasty . I use to travel to tropics twice a year until Dengue in 09 on Bonaire . Was just thinking about a trip but it is bad everywhere this year , I may wait until the dry season .
 
My experience may be a bit dated (living in W. Africa from 94 to 96). So take it with a grain of salt - there may be better treatments now - and you'll be visiting a different region for a much shorter duration.

We used Mefloquine prophylaxis as we were living in a chloriquine resistant region of the wold with a prevalence of Falciparum Malaria. It was rumored to have several side effects: vivid dreams and photo-sensitivity. I experienced neither taking the drug for more than 2 years. Although I took mefloquine, I also would wear long pants and long shirts to protect against mosquito bites at night. We slept with mosquito netting as well.

I also had friends that either chose to not take the prophylaxis or simply forgot. Although, indigenous people may develop a resistance to malaria, Americans had no such resistance. Symptoms included high fever (105 F.) and generally ended with the volunteer hospitalized and on an IV. Not fun.

Good luck with your trip.

Bjorn
 
Regarding Dengue fever am i right by saying pools of water are typical breeding area's also what prevents Dengue fever.

You're on the right track here, TWIME, as preventing getting bitten by mosquitos carrying malaria and Dengue is your first and best line of defense. In fact, with Dengue it is your only line of defense.

You might find the following informative:

"Avoiding Sand Fleas (aka no see ums), Mosquitoes and Other Bothersome and Disease Carrying Insects
by Doc Vikingo

Updated December 2009

Here's an updated edited version of my "Ask RSD" article on the topic in Rodale's Scuba Diving.

Sand fleas and mosquitoes can be a real bother, not to mention that they are sources of some serious tropical diseases such as leishmaniasis and malaria, respectively.

The danger and bother of insects can be substantially reduced by these precautions:

(1) Wear long sleeves and pants, avoiding dark or bright colors, especially at dawn and dusk. Protective clothing such as the Insect Resistant Clothing - Buzz Off Outdoor Wear brand can be useful . As an extra precaution, you may treat clothing with permethrin, as in the easy to use Sawyer® Products - The Leader in Outdoor Protection;

(2) Try to stay indoors at dawn and dusk when many flying insects are most active (although the mosquito that transmits dengue is most active during the daytime), and avoid swampy, wet and sandy areas as much as possible at any time of day, especially when there is no breeze. When making reservations, make sure the resort has screened windows;

(3) Wear insect repellent. The best protection against these and other insects arguably is full strength DEET. Some divers like things such as Avon's Skin-So-Soft and Cactus Juice, less toxic products than DEET, by the science is solidly behind DEET for long-lasting effectiveness. Most DEET containing repellents are the 15-30% range of concentration. The testing of various strengths of DEET has shown that after about 30% little additional effectiveness is to be had by upping the strength, and even less after about 50%. As such, there is simply no point in exposing oneself to more potent brews. 3M at 32% appears to be a good product. Used as directed over relatively brief periods of time, say a week, DEET has been shown to pose no significant risk when applied to exposed skin. If you wear lightweight, loose fitting clothes, it generally is safe to use DEET underneath. Doing so with heavy, snug fitting clothes can result in dermatological problems and worse. Be aware that DEET can dissolve synthetics like plastics, rayon and nylon, so it's best to wear natural fibers and keep it off your gear.

Relatively recently, picaridin-based repellants have been found to be quite effective and much less irritating to the skin and malodorous than DEET. The line of Cutter products is an example. However, based on the published scientific research some of these products contain questionably small amounts of picaridin, e.g., Cutter Advanced Picaridin Repel at 7%, Cutter Advanced Wipes at 5.75%. It is therefore recommended that a product like Cutter Advanced Aerosol with 15% picaridin be used. Some repellants available in foreign venues contain even higher concentrations of the chemical.

(4) Avoid scented toiletries and perfumes;

(5) Upon arrival, treat your room with a bug bomb (stay outside while this is being done). Touch up with spray after that as needed."

Regards,

DocVikingo
 
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