In Reply to: questions about malaria posted by Julle84 on Sunday, 16. January 2005 at 02:04 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. Some of the short term affects can be nausea and nightmares (and both those have the capacity to ruin anyones holiday)and the 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.
I'm a bit amazed with the obsession people on this site seem to have with malaria and how readily doctors seem to dish the prescriptions out. Choose a doctor that has recent experience with tropical diseases if you are looking for advise but better yet do like Maggs suggests and like you would do any where that there are mosqitoes. Cover up and use repellent if only to make your holiday more pleasant. Anti malaria medication is poison that should only be taken if absolutley necessary.