Before traveling to Africa for the
first time, my parents were very concerned about the risks of contracting
malaria and wanted to ensure our family’s safety. We asked for advice about how to prevent and treat malaria, and now I'm extending my recommendations, after years of travel experience.
- Prevent mosquito bites between dusk and dawn. This is when the mosquitoes that carry malaria bite. Stay inside, wear bug repellent (DEET), and sleep under a mosquito net.
- Take prophylactics: Doxycycline has fewer side effects than Malarone. Make sure to take the full course of the medication, starting before you travel and continuing well after your return.
- Take medicine with you. Depending on where you are traveling, it may be in short supply. Quinine and Coartem are pretty common and will be your best bets.
I've spent time in high-risk areas where malaria is extremely rampant. So much so, in fact, that I even contracted the disease myself, despite taking certain precautions. As I learned, hyper-attention to detail makes a huge difference. I got malaria when I was volunteering for a month at the Chitokiloki hospital in rural Zambia. This is arguably the best place to get sick, as there is readily available medicine as well as medical staff who treat the disease every day. The hospital is overflowing with malaria patients during the rainy season.
Amazingly, malaria is totally curable. You have to get to medication early, however, and this is one of the major challenges in rural areas, as it is modes of transportation are slow and unreliable.
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