Malaria in Belize and Roatan

[Margery]

Has anybody heard about the Malaria risk in Belize and Roatan? If so, has your doctor suggested getting medicine?

[KenMo]

There's a website that has info on malaria and which countries. I don't have it handy, but I'm sure someone else will come along that does.

 

My doctor has never suggested any meds....but then, I've never told him of my plans.

 

I've been deep in the jungles of both Belize and Roatan and never had any problem.

 

I do splash on the Deet, though.

[redlef]

Has anybody heard about the Malaria risk in Belize and Roatan? If so, has your doctor suggested getting medicine?

 

My doctor told me that the risk was very slight near the coast and he didn't recommend any preventive meds. He also told me that chloroquine was relatively side effect free, but some people got stomach aches or other gastric discomforts.

 

Since it was only $10 for the meds, I asked him for a prescription which he gave me. One pill once a week for a week prior and the next 5 weeks. If it bothered me, I was just going to throw it away.

 

I took the first two pills with no problems at all, but our stop in Roatan was cancelled so I threw the rest of the pills away.

 

Even though the risk of malaria was slight, I figured $10 for chloroquine was the cheapest thing on my cruise. A martini on the ship was more expensive than that . . . .

[Essiesmom]

http://www.cdc.gov

click on Travelers Health. Lots of good information.

EM

[pmetiv]

We checked out the CDC site earlier, and since it said that malaria was a risk in upcountry Belize (weve booked an excursion to the ruins at Lamanai) and in Roatan, we both got meds. My doctor prescribed mefloquine and my partner's physician gave him cholorquine. I didn't want mefloquine because of the potential side effects (the dreams), but chloroquine has a pretty nasty contraindication for blacks, so I had no choice. Fingers crossed.

 

We talked to one of our physician friends at church last Sunday and he said that he always recommends malaria drugs because, although the chance is slight, there are still a handful of New Yorkers who get it each year--and the cost of the preventive drugs is minimal (my prescription was less than $5). However, he says be sure to use your mega-DEET-enabled bug spray: the best prevention. And he says to watch out for the bot fly, which is becoming an issue in Central America. Ugh!!! :eek:

 

Jim and Pierre

[Azure Moon]

Be sure to hit all exposed areas with an insect repellant.

 

 

While in Belize in Oct., I put on a squirt of three different insect repellants (people were sharing theirs), but ended up with mosquito bites on the backs of my arms - the only area I missed spraying :rolleyes::(.

 

Wear socks and tennis shoes or other closed shoe. Several people wearing open sandals without socks got bitten by fire ants.

[frednsb]

drink lots of gin and tonic!!! LOL

I was there in Sept. had no problems and heard of none.