SANParks.org Forums

Interesting information WTM, a Malarial cure would be amazing.

In addition to pharmaceutical protection, do the mosquito coils offer anything more than a very bad odor?

A couple of months back someone suggested that this malaria page is cut down to a few pages and updated.

It was started in 2005 and while I have trust in One With Natures' posts on the latest, it could be a good idea to cut to the most recent year or so with regards to medication and prevention of bites.

For anyone new to the forum it is a lot to read.

Any suggestions?

Thanks Missings.A.! Malaria advice has pretty much remained unchanged since the beginning of this thread, so all researched information would be pertinent. It would be a lot of work to summarise everything, which any good website (but I mean good website!) would have already done. My experience is indeed that people do not go back even a couple of pages to see if their Q has been asked and answered; so, yes, there is a lot of rehashing.

Nevertheless, if one uses the "Search" facility above - and with only a few pertinent words - it usually throws up posts which will give the searcher a lot of information. Beyond that, people are still welcome to post questions, which will be answered as much as needed.

Missings.a.!, this post should be able to answer everyone's queries.

Thanks for the response OWN and Saraf. I have no problem myself with the website. When I come, I will test drive the latest meds beforehand and then do all possible to prevent being bitten, with the latest for the room and with repellent on me.

In the past I have used meds and never had any side effects. Last time I visited it was in the Sabi Sands during February, although as we have read here, some people have pretty unpleasant side effects.

This important report stating that electronic mozzie repellents dont work has just been published by the BBC news site http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20669080

So keep spraying & smearing

Exbrakpanite, what a useful article

thanks so much for posting.

We see so many products on the market claiming to repel mozzies. A false sense of security could lead to death in certain areas.

Very, very pertinent.

Thank you. I spend many hours searching for items on natural history, animal physiology, human health, & photography that I can use on our website & my blog.

But some are of such general importance that I will post directly on these forums, as the one above.

Meandering mouse there are many advance being made in protection against malaria e.g. permanently impregnated clothing from craghoppers & longer lasting Deet lotion from 3M. I have no commercial link to any of these firms. We are just "old age adventurers" who spend 4-6 of our lives in the African bush photographing wild life and trying to solve travel problems. But I do think experts on the forum should update the now very old Malaria prevention advice i.e.last updated 2008.

I did suggest this before & didnt agree with the replies. The above is another reason why revision of the sticky is needed before this post disappears into the mist. Our own approach to prevent malaria, is discussed on our site
http://www.africaraw.com/Triptips/Trip-tips/21666409_Dp9Xv3/

Hi, I tried searching and reading, but it is to much to siff.

Going to Mopani in June. Is it a high risk malaria area in winter or should malaria be treated the same all year round?

The risk in winter is lower. The mozzies don't like the cold.

As the saying goes: "prevention are better than the cure". Although it is a low risk time of the year, I would take the necessary precaution.

Exbrakpanite, as malaria is a subject spanning expansive amounts of information and opinionated variations, there have been, over time, some "experts" who have offered strange - and sometimes inappropriate or downright uninformed - advice on malaria websites and threads. It must be remembered that people can die by being led into directions not scientifically backed up by evidence; therefore, malaria advice, as you have noted, needs to be sound and from an informed source. There are actually some health-professionals who do not have sufficient knowledge or are not up-to-date enough to advise fully on malaria - especially when involving complicated cases, such as certain immune-lowering diseases; pregnancy; young children; and the like. However, in my personal experience, most of the health-professionals that I have come into contact with do, at least, get the important basics right. Those who live in high-risk malaria areas obviously are generally more informed and geared-up to diagnose and take actions against malaria when it does occur. However, as you have aptly noted, it is up to the traveller to be vigilant and act on suspicious symptoms and signs. (It goes without saying that no doctor can test for and treat malaria if a person with the disease does not contact her or him.)

Having said all of that, I must tell you that I combed slowly and thoroughly through the information on your website, and I must applaud you for posting, in my opinion, pertinent and accurate information, backed up by appropriate sources. You have taken time to research the topic at hand and, although of course by no means thoroughly covering every aspect of the disease - which requires a full volume of expert and sound scientific research and knowledge - people can learn from what you have posted. However, people are encouraged always to consult experienced and knowledgeable helath-professional experts to better their chances of making an even more informed choice when travelling to designated malaria areas.

There is only one thing I would like to expand on from what you have said: malaria-carrying mosquitoes do not only bite at dusk and dawn, but ALL NIGHT LONG, beginning from about a half-hour before dusk to a half-hour after dawn. However, their peak biting frequency is generally until about midnight, with an increase again approaching dawn. Frequency of biting does however depend on other factors - such as number of mosquitoes in a certain location, season (more important in seasonal-risk malaria areas), weather conditions, clothing coverage, colours of clothing worn, and the propensity of the person to be bitten (some people simply are more attractive to mosquitoes than others (such as moi)).

I, in fact, read the whole website and was highly entertained by your style, anecdotes, and comments. Perhaps one day we may be lucky enough to "bump" into you both in some remote destination on this most wonderful of continents.

Disclaimer: My recommendations here - though based on some experience and some drug knowledge - are not absolute, and further consultation with suitable health-care professionals is suggested before a final decision is taken on whether to enter a malarial area, what prophylaxis to use, and any general factors and limitations that need to be taken into account. Furthermore, I only advise based on what information is given by the person(s) entering the malarial area, but I have no control on the information given to me, and so such information could possibly be incomplete or misleading.