Anti Malarial Medication Advice in CM?

[gc777]

Would some one be able to advise as to where in Chiang Mai is the best place to obtain advice on anti malarial medication? I am travelling to some remote parts of Indonesia soon where there is a high risk of contracting malaria. I live very close to the big pharmacies on Suthep Road who I am sure will stock the medication but are the staff in there qualified to give advice?

Thanks

[kaptainrob]

I took doxycycline tabs to PNG when on a yachting trip and visiting remote islands. Owner and his guests never took any despite visiting one village with a malaria-infected patient.

Advice had been to take a course in advance [precautionary] or at least have available if infected. We had no problems.

I would expect RAM's pharmacy or one on Suthep Rd to stock a similar drug and you can Google data sheets if needed.

[Konini]

100% correct Cap'n. When we go on the road we carry them with us in case we go into a malaria-affected area. Definitely not worth the risk.

You need to bear in mind that a side effect is photosensitivity, so keep your sunscreen up.

[Puwa]

First thing to do is look for information about the kind of malaria prevalent in the areas you will be visiting. The two main strains are p. Vivax and p. Falciparum, and each requires different treatment. A Thai pharmacist probably wouldn't know what's endemic to the part of Indo you are visiting.

You'll want to take something for prophylaxis, but you should also carry something that you can use to suppress the symptoms in case you do develop malaria, especially if you are in remote areas distant from reliable health care.

I've had both strains several times each, so this advice comes from experience.

[AnotherOneAmerican]

Good advice from Puwa,

Not to mention some people have severe mental reactions to malaria tablets.

[gc777]

Before I posted I did some research on the World Health Organization Website and it seems that dioxycylene or methloquin or atovitquone-proquinol are the medication I need for the part of Indo that I will be visiting, Malaku, Flores and Bali.

As mentioned above I guessed that a Thai pharmacist may not be the person best placed to give advice on this, and I didn't want to just self-medicate. Thanks all for the replies it's helpful to have advice from those who have first hand experience. I had a really bad reaction to methloquin in the past so I'll be going with dioxycyline or aovquone-proquinol.

Thanks again