Anti Malarial tablets in SE Asia
 

We will be in Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand in Dec-Feb, two weeks in each going to the standard tourist sites. We will do a river trip from Mandalay to Bagan, not sure about other countries.
Looking on the Fit to travel website, it looks like we may not need anti-malarial tablets for those areas, although we did read something about a new variation of malaria.
Do we need anti malarial tablets and if so, where is the cheapest place to buy malerone tablets? Tesco only have the more expensive branded version. Travelpharm.com have the generic and do an online prescription.

Costco has long been the place with the best price on Malerone (either generic or brand-name). I'd suggest that you speak with a travel medicine doc about your trip, as you have a relatively long trip. There have been recent reports of medication-resistant strains of malaria in SE Asia. So make sure you are using an effective repellant and re-applying as needed.

I assume you are from the UK? If so, I dont think Costco operate pharmacies in the UK. Some Superdrug stores operate travel clinics, Lloyds Pharmacies operate online but your GP will likely have a travel clinic but will be the most expensive way of getting Malarone, if indeed you need it.

Personally, I don’t bother with prophylactics in Asia but do carry a treatment course with me.

For medical advice you should do what your doctor recommends!


Do some research for Doxycycline and ask your doctor if this will be an okay substitute for you. When I do need something for malaria I buy doxy in Thailand where it is not expensive. (Probably cheaper where you live compared to Malarone.)
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3062442/

If you do use anything for malaria prevention you should begin the treatment before you get to Asia.

Some frequent travelers to Southeast Asia never use anything.

There are a few links talking about a "super malaria" that is resistant to many preventatives.


Read up on Dengue Fever. As far as I know there is no preventative other than do everything you can to avoid mosquito bites.

Good luck.

Thank you. We are in the UK and would want generic malarone. Tesco can get it at the moment, but are cheaper than Superdrug for the branded.

Can we buy malarone when we get to Mandalay?

I should have added above that we did ask a travel clinic when we had our injections. They advised us to get the tablets from Tesco, but Tesco now cant get the generic.

I wouldn’t rely on getting genuine Malarone in the Far East. Apparently ASDA sell them at £1.25 per tab

No you cannot get Malarone in Mandalay. I would not buy ANY medication - not even aspirin in Myanmar.

While I wouldn't go quite as far as Kathie - I would buy a local cure for TD if I came down with it - I certainly wouldn't buy "western" medication in Mandalay. Or most other places in Asia. Maybe somewhere like Bangkok, but I would be careful about where in Bangkok.

While there are places in SE Asia where I would gladly buy medications (Bangkok, Singapore, Hong Kong, for instance), Burma/Myanmar has been inundated with fake drugs form China.

There are Boots in Bangkok but I am pretty sure that they don’t sell Malarone. The do sell doxycycline, which is a lot less expensive but not everyone gets on with it.

There is VERY limited availability of Malarone in Asia - don't count on being able to buy it anywhere. A few hospitals are authorized to use it, but they don't sell it to just anyone.

Hubby and I will be in Thailand, Cambodia and Viet Nam in February. We just had a visit with a travel nurse. No anti malaria meds needed for this trip. I was surprised, but she did state that we needed to use mosquito repellent with at least 15% Deet. We do have to renew our typhoid vaccination. We have already had our Hep A and Hep B vaccinations.

We had to tell her exactly where we were going and where we would spend nights (even the type of accommodations). Your best bet is to contact a travel clinic to verify if you will be in an area where anti malaria meds are needed.

My personal strategy (NOT to be meant as a recommendation for everyone or to replace a talk with a travel physician).

Avoid exposure to mosquito bites - cover your body.
Not only against malaria, but also against dengue.
You need a sarong or similar to visit temples anyway.

In addition: DEET repellent like NoBite is a must.

Educate yourself about the regions you plan to travel.
Major cities like Bangkok, KL etc. are declared to have no mosquito/malaria/dengue problem.

Coastal areas, beaches on the ocean or Gulf of Thailand usually have no or few issue with mosquitoes. They prefer to breed in still bodies of water.

If you stay in rural lodges, in the countryside, near still bodies of waters like lakes or slow moving streams, you may want to use extra caution when you sit outside on your porch in the evening. Accomodations will usually supply those spiral thingies you light up and place on the ground where you sit. If your accomodation does not have them, you can get them at any convenience store like FamilyMart. Those things kill everything in a 2 meter radius (not super eco-friendly, I'm sure).

Not every mosquito carries either malaria or dengue, so not every bite transmits either.

I carry Malarone as a safety back-up with me. Local doctors may be very qualified to diagnose malaria. But if that should ever happen, I'd want to rely on my own medication.

There is no real easy "anti malaria" prevention drug. Pre-exposure medication is no aspirin, consider the side effects of your drug of choice and assess the realistic risk of exposure in the specific regions of travel - in a best case scenario after talking to a specialist, and not just relying on internet wisdom.




P.S. Given the current political situation in Myanmar, I'd also check travel advisories frequently.