atovaquone and proguanil HCI
Today I took my first ever dosage of a malaria prophylaxis, which happens to be called MALARONE (or otherwise: atovaquone and proguanil HCI). Tomorrow I am traveling to Mozambique for two weeks for work and I’m hoping this keeps me safe from the Anopheles mosquito.
East Africa is considered a malaria-endemic area. For Mozambique the malaria risk is predominantly due to Plasmodium falciparum and exists throughout the year in the whole country. P. falciparum, the most deadly of the four types of malaria, is resistant to chloroquine and sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine, which are two different types of anti-malarial medications. I’ll see how Malarone does.
The following is more info on malaria from the Travel Doctor website:
Malaria is a serious and sometimes fatal disease which is widespread in many tropical and subtropical countries. It is caught by being bitten by an infected mosquito that is carrying the malaria parasites in its saliva.
The malaria parasite is a microscopic organism called a Plasmodium and it belongs to the group of tiny organisms known as protozoans. There are four types of plasmodium: P. falciparum (the most dangerous), P. vivax, P. ovale and P. malariae. The species of mosquito that carries the malaria parasites is the Anopheles mosquito.
These parasites enter the host’s bloodstream when bitten by an infected mosquito and then migrate to the liver where they multiply before returning back into the bloodstream to invade the red blood cells. The parasites continue to multiply inside the red cells until they burst releasing large numbers of free parasites into the blood plasma causing the characteristic fever associated with the disease. This phase of the disease occurs in cycles of approximately 48 hours.
The free parasites are then able to infect any mosquito that feeds on the host’s blood during this phase. The cycle then continues as the parasites multiply inside the mosquito and eventually invade its salivary glands. (see the plasmodium life cycle below).
Malaria occurs in over 100 countries and more than 40% of the people in the world are at risk. Large areas of Central and South America, Hispaniola (Haiti and the Dominican Republic), Africa, the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, and Oceania are considered malaria-risk areas.
Popularity: 3% [?]
August 27th, 2007 at 1:24 pm
Malarone has always worked very well for me. Just pop a pill once a day. Although it does not protect you from the following:
1) Spider bites
2) Hit and run accidents
3) Gun fire
4) Food poisoning
5) Projectile vomit
6) Corrupt bureaucrats
August 27th, 2007 at 5:23 pm
I have taken three different types of malaria medication for various lengths of time–malarone being my favorite thus far. How in the world is this your first time on malaria medication????
August 28th, 2007 at 6:49 am
I guess I have a theory that I’ve stuck with…taking any kind of prophylaxis for any kind of virus/disease over a prolonged period of time will only lower both the effectiveness of the drug and my body’s ability to fight it once I do contract the virus/disease. At least with malaria, no prophylaxis is 100% fail-safe, so it’s really only a matter of when and not if I’ll get it. Since the prophylaxis is also used to fight the malaria once it’s contracted, it will be more effective if it’s newly introduced rather than if it’s already residing in my system. However, since this trip only puts me into a malaria “rich” zone for a short period of time, an immuno-boost is better than nothing. All these other years have seen me in areas for more extended periods of time, hence the theory and my choice not to take anything. And hey, it’s worked. I have avoided it thus far.
August 28th, 2007 at 4:32 pm
Fair enough. I think you have the right attitude about taking malaria prophylaxis drugs. With short term trips you loose too much time if you get malaria, so it is worth the extra boost in my opinion. I have no intention of taking them for longer stints. I have also had the question of distance to medical treatment versus gravity of illness. But, with the new self-test kits (have you seen these? they are awesome!) that allow you to test yourself for malaria in the field and then self-treat until you can reach medical care, this is, again, a much easier decision to make!