Travel Health

A common cause for fun on the road is watching all the paranoid travelers taking their malaria medicine. Around half of them end up feeling nauseous and blurry and the medication often ends up completely spoiling their trip.

So why do they bother? Because if you look at virtually any public health resource they’ll urge you to take malaria medicine for the entire time you’re in an affected country regardless of where you are.

So much controversy; such little pills http://www.flickr.com/photos/ebotunes/

Why? Because money talks and health walks. Your local doctor is phoned up every single day by reps on commission from pharmaceutical firms, most likely wined and dined by them and then blackmailed into recommending their medicine, from malaria pills to antibiotics and vaccines. Nor do doctors want to be sued by the unlucky traveler who does come back with malaria.

Absolute fortunes are made off selling malaria pills each year to travelers spooked by their local doctor. The thing is the vast majority of them run a minimal risk of catching malaria in the first place. Yet they get ill from taking the pills. Which all goes to show that something doesn’t have to be logical to turn a profit.

Conventional malaria medicines cause side effects ranging from nausea to depression to visual disturbances to panic attacks. Many are not recommended for pregnant mothers or anyone with high blood pressure and heart problems. The medicines basically hope to poison the malaria parasite to death before significant damage is done to the body.

The best solution is not to get bitten http://www.flickr.com/photos/sheeprus/

The main thing to understand is that you are not going to catch malaria just because you’re going on holiday to India or Thailand. Yes, malaria exists there but probably not in the areas that you’ll be visiting.

If you take malaria pills you will feel sick, maybe suffer from hallucinations and bad dreams and very possibly do long term damage to your health. Unless you’re heading to rural areas of Sub-Saharan Africa, or to other places notorious for malaria, you’re better off without the damn things.

The best way to prevent catching malaria is not to get bitten in the first place.

• Wear long sleeves and trousers at night, preferably not of too thin material.

• Use some kind of repellant. Lemon grass and lavender oils work well or you can go chemical if the mosquitoes are really heavy.

• Hang a mosquito net over your bed at night.

• Burn mosquito coils around your room though these too are pretty toxic.

• Don’t leave the windows open with the light on.

If you do decide to believe all the hysteria and take malaria medicine anyway make sure you’re taking the right kind. Here at least your local drug dealer (general practitioner) can be of use. Depending on where you’re going the mosquitoes have developed resistance to some medicines.

You also need to check that you’re not in a high-risk group for the particular poisonous remedy for malaria you choose to take.

Want to meet other road junkies?
Come to the Road Junky Sahara Retreat Feb 6-11 2012 to hang out with 30 other travelers to meditate, make yoga, tell stories and dance under the full moon in the desert.

Follow Road Junky on Twitter for live updates @roadjunky

Back to Top - More Travel Health Articles - Print this page