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The Blue Lagoon and Coconut Palms
The Blue Lagoon and Coconut Palms
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Malaria. Malaria is endemic to the area and it is essential to be prepared for it. You might consult your doctor, pharmacist, or visit a travel clinic 4 weeks beforehand about preventative treatments, but do so with discretion, because you will be ripped off by the SA medical industry. The incubation period of Malaria is between seven and ten days so you may be home before the infection develops. Your local medical facility should be informed of the possibility of Malaria should you become ill within 2 weeks of leaving a Malaria area. Assuming that you want to place yourself under their control, which is a very bad idea. Mosquito repellants and the conventional wisdoms of long, light-coloured clothing etc. will reduce the incidence of mosquito bites but will not guarantee your safety. Treated with modern medicines one can be cured within 2 hours, left untreated it can be, and often is, fatal. Remedial drugs are available without prescription in Moçambique at a cost of R25 - R75 and are totally effective. Available locally are Arinate and Alaxin. Coartem can be had only from some clinics. Obsolete and dangerous, Halfan is making a re-appearance here, probably due to being dumped by a 1st world country where it can no longer be sold. There are pharmacies in Macia and Xai Xai which stock these drugs but they close from 12h00 to 14h00 every day. Don't be fobbed off with anything other than Alaxin, Arinate or Coartem. Only these two products are effective. Many fatalities have occurred in hospitals where the necessary treatment was initiated too late to be successful. If possible, speak to people with first-hand experience of Malaria rather than accepting the word of theoreticians, and do not lose sight of the extreme urgency of your condition, many Malaria patients have died while self-important medical professionals have procrastinated. Most expatriates in Moçambique have had Malaria several times and routinely cure themselves with the over-the-counter medicines, nevertheless each occurrence can be fatal if not treated promptly and nobody attains immunity after repeated infections. By far the most common strain of Malaria found in Moçambique is P.Falciparum. Unlike other strains Falcparum does not go dormant in the body only to return again after months or years. Once it is beaten it stays beaten until the next infection. Cerebral Malaria is what happens when Malaria is left untended. Red blood-cell debris clog blood vessels in the brain with predictable results. Most people die from cerebral Malaria because that is the last stage of Malaria before it becomes fatal. It's an exotic sounding name but actually it's just means negligence. Malaria can virtually incapacitate you within a few minutes of it flaring up so carry your remedy with you at all times until 3 weeks after leaving the area. If you are admitted to an SA hospital all tablets in your possession will be confiscated. You will then be at the mercy of the hospital authorities, where many have died before you. In the event of contracting Malaria be sure to take all the tablets in the treatment. Many people feel cured 2 hours after swallowing the first 2 pills that they neglect to take the follow-up tablets. Ten days later it will come back with a vengeance and you won't have all the tablets anymore.
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