Malaria Alternative Protection Advisory

  Doxycycline:   For short-term travelers to malaria-infested regions and travelers who either cannot tolerate Mefloquine or in whom Mefloquine is contraindicated, can use this antibiotic as an lternative protection against malaria.

Dosage of Doxycyclin 100 mg  tablets: 2 tablets per day, starting 1 day before going to a malaria-infested region, during the total length of the stay and 3 days after leaving the region.

Warning: Doxycycline is contraindicated in pregnancy and in children <= 8 yr. Gastro-intestinal upset, photosensitivity and vaginal candidiasis are relatively common.

Preventive & Alternative Measures

Carbon dioxide [CO2] from our breath attracts & hones mosquitoes to us but mosquitoes only bite 2 times per day - early morning & early evening - so do not use black or dark-colored clothes and limit skin exposure to the minimum during those hours.

Alternative Repellents:

• Garlic: The garlic we eat goes to our skin & repells mosquitos - this measure helps but is not so effective.

• Lavender & Eucaliptus placed in cotton or on clothes help keep mosquitos away.

Alternative Medicine: Artemisa, a plant used by the Chinese for hundred of years to fight malaria, long before Quinine.