For this trip we were advised to get the following vaccines:
- Yellow fever(which is compulsory with travel to most tropical countries nowadays)
- Polio
- Tetanus
- Typhoid
- Hep A
- Hep B
- Rabies
And obviously we need to take some form of anti-malaria drug. Its this decision that's causing me the most concern as there are three main types of anti-malaria drugs available each with their own advantages and disadvantages.
Maloron is the best drug because it has less side effects then the other two.
Doxycycline is the one used by most people and is the cheapest. But its not meant to be as effective as Maloron :0
And lastly there's LARIAM(mefloquine), which I've found out from a little research is also called the "demon drug, satan's tablet and the insane pill! I won't go into the details of its possible side effects or the dangers associated with taking Lariam, but you can have a look at this video to get an idea of how potentially dangerous taking it could be!!
Anyways, the funny thing is that our doc in the TMB where we're getting our jabs has recommended Larium as the best drug to use (apart from maloron). The only downside with maloron is its cost. Works out at about €500 for the 13 weeks protection that we'll need. If the doc does'nt recommend we take doxycycline then we'll have no choice but to take Maloron. I aint getting Malaria and getting the side effects from taking lariam has been described as worse then malaria itself...so thats a no go either! Now, I know friends who taking Larium while travelling and has no side effects whatsoever. But i've heard alot of stories as well where the person on it would start hallucinating and going demented.
Anyone who's been travelling has probably been through this exact same procedure as me, so if you have and your reading this, then I'd appreciate your comments on which one you took and what effects if any you had.
I won't be getting the anti-malaria tablets for another three weeks so I've got time to do abit more digging.
ciao
