Originally Posted by
cheltzel
A serious question on the malaria recommendation. I have skipped taking the malaria preventative meds myself for African trips where I felt there was no credible risk of getting the disease. Are there other reasons in play for this beside just a realistic assessment of disease risk?
The general thinking of the experts is that if you actually contract Malaria, you will be better taken care of by local doctors. And any honest and ethical doctor will tell you to avoid medicines unless absolutely necessary. It is commonly said that the medicine is worse than the disease and different people have different reactions. For my own part I have done a lot of traveling around Africa and have never even thought about taking Malaria meds. Not for myself and certainly not for my young kids.