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#76766 12/01/03 11:51 PM
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Perhaps Simon is mistaken about chloroquine (brand name Aralen). It has been used for a very long time and vivid dreams are not a reported side effect. Side effects are rare; occasionally itching, nausea, dizziness, headaches and blurred vision are reported.

I believe Simon may have confused chloroquine with mefloquine (brand name Larium) which does have the side effect of vivid dreams in some people. However, Larium is rarely prescribed for visitors to Belize, since chloroquine-resistent strains aren't a real factor Belize.

I personally take a heavy dose of an antimalarial closely related to chlorquine (hydroxychloroquine sulfate/ brand name Plaquenil) daily -- for another health problem unrelated to malaria -- and I have never had vivid dreams. (I do however turn green and sprout broccoli from my ears from time to time.)

Overall, in my opinion one's chances of getting malaria in San Pedro or on any of the Belize cayes are about the same as getting malaria in Miami.

There is malaria in Belize, but the incidence has dropped dramatically in recent years, since the peak in the early and mid-1990s. At one time Belize had a very high incidence of malaria based on the small population of the country, but happily things have improved. I think the latest numbers are a few hundred cases a year, mostly in remote areas among Guatemalan immigrants to Belize.

On the other hand, it does come down to a personal decision -- talk to a tropical medicine specialist or go to the CDC site for a conservative perspective. And if you are spending time in remote bush areas malaria prophylaxsis could be good insurance.

On dengue, certainly it is present in Belize especially in the late summer and fall after the rainy season, although Belize has escaped the near-epidemics that have swept Costa Rica, Honduras, El Salvador and other countries in the region. But I have not heard of any deaths in Belize from dengue -- the dangerous hemmoraghic variety is rare in Belize. I've had dengue -- it's sorta like the flu. And there is no preventative for it except avoiding the mozzies that carry it.

Typhoid in Belize? Sure, it occasionally does happen ... at about the same incidence as typhoid in Louisiana. And even the conservative CDC doesn't recommend typhoid sticks for Belize.

--Lan Sluder
www.belizefirst.com


Lan Sluder/Belize First
http://www.belizefirst.com
#76767 12/02/03 03:14 AM
Joined: Nov 2000
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Simon, my doctor has never been to Belize and knows very little about it either. I wouldn't listen to his recommendation on whether or not I should take malaria meds.

Therefore, I would also suspect that the OP's doctor isn't the best bet for advice in this regard either. Heck, Simon, you are living in San Pedro; how many people do you know that are taking anti-malarial meds?

The OP is going for one week to SP. Are you trying to say that you seriously recommend that every tourist coming into SP for a holiday should be taking anti-malarial meds? What about the divers?


A fish and a bird can fall in love, but where will they build their nest?

#76768 12/02/03 08:03 AM
Joined: Feb 2003
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Peter, as a long term expat, have you contracted any of these referenced illnesses? I assume alcohol is a practical preventative measure, at least it seems to work for me, although I may be a carrier.


If you must choose between two evils, pick the one you've never tried before.
#76769 12/02/03 09:30 AM
Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 6,267
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I've lived in Belize for 11 years without catching malaria, hep, dengue or experiencing gastro-intestinal distress.
I have given myself a few nasty hangovers, endured some self-induced sunburns and on one occasion I caught the flu from some tourists.

#76770 12/12/03 11:43 AM
A
Anonymous
Anonymous
A
I've had many tropical diseases, including malaria. Don't know about Dengue fever, though it sounds awful. Malaria is now one of the biggest killers world-wide and the prophylactics now generally have little effect. The only way to be sure of not getting it is not to get bitten. It only takes one bite from one mosquito. That said, I've been on the island for 2 1/2 years, don't take drugs, do get bitten, and haven't contacted anything (yet).

#76771 12/12/03 09:59 PM
Joined: Jun 2000
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I contracted what the doctors said (in MIcnigan) was mosquito borne menningitis (the spinal variety-terribly painful, couldnt walk for a while) way back in 2000, just prior to moving here. The doctors thought I had contracted it on Caye Caulker while on vacation (reminder: Michigan based-tropical medicine specialists) I was very very very sick, and those of you who have been on this board for a while, may remember. I got sick again about 7 months after moving to San Pedro (pre Caye Caulker) and had to be airevacuated to Belize City for the exact symptoms, only this time I saw a Belizean doctor who ruled out any mosquito borne illness. He said that we don't have the variety of mosquitos that carry dengue and malaria on the cayes, so he looked further, and found the answer. It was a bad kidney. Fortunately for me, in MIchigan, the same medicine they used to treat what they thought was menningitis... accidently fixed the kidney problem. So, to make a long story short, when we have an outbreak of malaria or dengue, its not spread amongst the islanders, its imported from someone coming from PG, or points down south, and it doesnt spread once it appears here, because the mosquitos don't carry it. A few months back we had a couple of kids, who had been to police cadet camp in Punta Gorda, get sick with malaria. They weren't infected here, they brought it back with them, and no one else got sick. There can be side effects from the chlorquinine. I've taken it many times, had no ill effects, but I've heard of others that have.
--Lee

#76772 12/12/03 10:01 PM
Joined: Jun 2000
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I recommend hepatitus A & B, typoid and tetanus.

#76773 12/12/03 11:15 PM
Joined: Jan 2003
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Ditto what Silkpainter recommends for immunizations, just be aware that the typhoid vaccine is NOT a 100% guarantee. And trust me... typhoid is not a pleasant thing!
frown

#76774 12/12/03 11:17 PM
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 1,336
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oh hell, it ain't that bad....you get waited on hand and foot....you get to watch a lot of tv...you get lay in bed all day...there are a lot of perks to getting an 'oid...

#76775 12/12/03 11:21 PM
Joined: Jan 2003
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You forgot to mention the good drugs... morphine was my friend for a week or so.

P.S. For the record - I did not contract typhoid on Ambergris.

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