In Reply to: better to be safe than sorry, posted by msj on Wednesday, 12. January 2005 at 15:16 Bali Time:
Malaria medication should not be taken unless the area you are travelling to is known to have active malaria at that particular time. It can be extremely toxic and should not be taken if not required. Long term effects can be things like tinnitus, hair loss and liver damage. There are also difficulties with strains of malaria becoming non responsive to certain treatments due to the unecessary use of medication as a prophylactic.
Also, msj, your husband, if he received treatment for his malaria should not still have it. It used to be that many years ago (during WWII is a good example)malaria was untreated by drugs and people with it were usually encouraged to "sweat it out" like it was an illness similiar to the flu. Many people died but those that survived still carried the virus and suffered from malarial episodes for the rest of their lives. These days, in countries with access to good medical care, the treatment is quite straight forward (though people do still die and you can be very sick for a long time) and you should be blood tested for up to six months after to ensure that the virus has been completely eradicated. If your husband tests positive for malaria even after treatment and his doctor has not prescribed further medication then I think he should be looking for another doctor, one who specialises in tropical medicine.