Question for Utila divers

[thumbsplitter]

Hi all,

My wife and I will be traveling to Utila this December for the first time.

I know anti-malarial drugs are a perennial topic in this forum, but most of the posts I could find involved Roatan (where I understand malaria is much more common).

For those of you who have been to Utila—but did not stay on the other islands or the mainland—did you take prophylactic anti-malarial drugs?

I don’t want to seem paranoid, but bugs love to munch on me whenever they get a chance. If anyone can get bitten while changing planes in Roatan I can!

Any advice would be great.

Thanks,

--Thumbsplitter

 

[Doc]

I don’t want to seem paranoid, but bugs love to munch on me whenever they get a chance. If anyone can get bitten while changing planes in Roatan I can!

The islands are a scant few miles apart. Utila is much swampier than Roatan.

As far as the CDC is concerned, Honduras now includes "The Bay Islands". This is a recent inclusion. They make no distinction between the various and several islands.

Opinions will now follow.

 

[ZenDiva]

been there 3 x and never took any malaria med before going

 

[thumbsplitter]

Opinions will now follow.

I guess the topic wasn’t as controversial as we thought! (yea = 1; nay = 1)

Thanks for the feedback.

 

[susan6868]

Took Chloraquine- no worries. Make sure you start it before you leave for Utila. Why risk malaria- no fun at all!

 

[ZenDiva]

From what I understand Malaria has not been an issue on utila, the mainland may be a different story.

 

[GoProHonduras]

There have been a few reported cases of malaria this summer on the island, better to be safer than sorry though I personally prefer repellants to meds.

Warm regards,
Andy

 

[ZenDiva]

There have been a few reported cases of malaria this summer on the island, better to be safer than sorry though I personally prefer repellants to meds.

Warm regards,
Andy

Well then I"d heed Andy's advise he'd know best

 

[torontoscubagirl]

RE: Malaria prophylaxis and Travel Medicine

I went to see a travel medicine MD regarding the Bay Islands and he said to use choloroquine antimalarials (500mg once a week, starting one week prior to entering malaria endemic area, and 4 weeks after leaving). While you won't necessilarily get malaria if you don't take the meds, you do run the risk of contracting it if you do. Also chloroquine is ridiculously cheap and once a week dosing is pretty easily. * Remember: any fever in a returning traveller is malaria until proven otherwise : ) So see an MD. (Most common form of malaria in central america is Vivax which has a 1 % fatality rate if untreated, occasional reports of falciparum do occur very rarely which as a 20% fatality rate if untreated).

Mosquito repellant is also a good idea. 20% DEET will repell bugs for 6-8hrs and 100% DEET lasts about 12-18hrs (not for use in kids). Denge Fever which is caused by a virus has no treatment. It can result in 2-3+ weeks of severe flu like symptoms and is caused by a day-biting mosquito -so it is a good idea to wear DEET during the day in areas with mosquitos. Denge has 4 strains so you can get it 4 times - it is all over the Caribbean, Central America, Asia and Africa.

In addition to malaria prophylaxis and mosquito repellants, my travel MD also recommends some Ciprofloxacin antibiotics for severe diarrhea (with fever or bloody) or Azithromax for same in kids. Hepatitis A vaccinations are also a good idea, as you can get pretty sick if you get it as an adult.

Some good resources are the CDC website which has lots of info. The CDC also publishes a yellow book annually called "CDC Health Information for International Travel" which is an amazing resource. Also the World Health Organization has its own version too.

I think it is always a good idea to see a travel MD before you travel - it is way cheaper and less frustrating than getting sick and losing precious, expensive vacation time and especially dive time.

Hope that helps !

 

[thumbsplitter]

Thanks for all the advice,

I was always leaning towards getting the meds, but it seemed like everyone I talked to who were going on the trip—people who have been on a lot more dive trips to exotic locations than I have—thought taking anti-malarials for Utila was unnecessary.

After reading your posts I think I’ll definitely take the time to get a prescription.

Thanks again,

--Thumbsplitter