Should I take Malaria medication?

mozzyThere are a variety of different medicines that you can take to reduce your risk of contacting malaria in endemic areas and if you are traveling to some of these places for less than a couple of months you may want to consider taking the medicine.  However, we decided against taking the medicine because of the amount of time we spent in endemic areas. Most medicines are limited to only taking them for a period of less than 6 months anyway.  Prevention is your best bet and bug repellent is your best friend.

The advice of many doctors and other people in endemic areas is often against taking the medine. Although the antibiotics can help reduce the likelihood of contacting malaria or slow its onset, they are also extremely tough on your liver. This is why they have limits on how long you can take them at a time as they can cause permanent damage. With the new advancements in medicines to combat Malaria, once you are diagnosed you feel better within a day of taking the medicine. The best thing you can do for yourself in the more dangerous areas is to be aware of how you feel.  The moment you feel a fever or adverse symptoms, you should get tested and you will be a lot better off than risking damaging your liver with the prevention meds.  Unfortunately, Steve Bouey did not follow this advice when he first started to feel under the weather and paid the price for it, luckily not with his life.