Malaria in Vanuatu?

Hi,
i plan to travel in Vanuatu at mid december 2008 for 7 days. does anyone know what is the Malaria situation over there? is there a need to take pills against malaria? and what about Fiji?

tnx ahead!
Adva

Depends where u go. None in Port Vila but some areas of the other islands are infested with it, such as the coastal areas of Malekula.

thanks Eddy!
i plan to go to Port Vila, Tanna and maybe Espiritu Santo.

Edited by: adva

I spent 7 months in Vanuatu while working on a boat, mostly on Santo and Malekula. About half the crew took anti malarial drugs, I did not. No one caught malaria. We were careful to always wear long sleeve shirts and long pants or skirts in the evenings and at night, and to always sleep under a mosquito net. Some people used bug spray as well, but I didn't find it necessary as long as I was covered.

The anti malarial pills have unpleasant side effects, including extreme sensitivity to sunlight and several people taking them had terrible nightmares as well.

There is no malaria in Fiji.

"The anti malarial pills have unpleasant side effects, including extreme sensitivity to sunlight and several people taking them had terrible nightmares as well."

This is a silly and uninformed comment. Different drugs have different sidfe effects associated with them. Light sensitivity is a side-effect reported for doxicycline. THe so-called 'nightmares' are probably associated with Larium.

Moreover, listed side effects only indicate what might happen. The majority of people who take any drug do not experience the side-effects which a person MIGHT experience. The only way you will know for sure if you will experience side effects is to take the drug -- which is one reason why you should start before you enter a malaria area. If you have a negative reaction to one drug you can switch to another.

And you'll also have to check for the TYPE of malaria present in Vanuatu. Different drugs are more effective for different types of malaria. Better to ask your question to a couple informed specialists/doctors.

I don't think this what I said is silly or uninformed, it is merely an account of what I witnessed first hand of people taking anti malarial tablets over a long period of time. Everyone that I witnessed taking the drugs had side effects. In the instances where crew members switched the type of drug they were taking, they reacted to those as well.

The point I was trying to make is that with proper precaution (bug repellant, long sleeves and long pants, and a mosquito net), I did not find anti malarial pills to be necessary anywhere in Vanuatu. But definitely it is worth discussing with a doctor.

the nightmares and hallucinations sometimes come with larium but why bother taking larium when malarone is just as effective and has no bad side effects?

My wife and I have been living in Vanuatu for 8 years, In that time, have lived on Tanna for three years, and I have been to 14 islands (including Malekula 3 times), and have never ever contemplated taking those pills. Nearly everyone I have met that have used them have complained of ill effects, for some it spoilt their holidays.
There are many thousands of people (expatriot NGO's, missionaries, tourism operators etc) living or travelling throughout the islands every year who do not take any pills (you cannot take these pills for extended periods of time anyway) and they are coping very well. Anyway, you could catch Malaria from walking down the street in Port Vila if you were the most unluckiest person in the world, or catch Dingue fever waiting for your plane in New Caledonia (lived there for 11 years and never caught it) from the fact that a mosquito has to be carrying the disease in the first place, and then find you. The odds are extremelly remote unless you go specifically into known areas (the locals will tell you) and not heresay areas as seems to be mostly the case. So how do we get by? Very simple, be conscious (not paranoid!) that it exist, carry and use anti mosqito sprays (Aeroguard makes a real convenient pocket size plastic bottle) early morning and at night when mossies are around (tell you the truth, I have allways sprayed because of the Mossie annoyance factor, having totally forgotten about the Malaria factor years ago).
Other thing is to sleep with a Mosqito net (very common on all Sth Pacific islands since ever...) and burn a Mosquito coil at night when you are dinning or sleeping (they last till next morning) and yes, wear lightweigth long sleeves & ling pants. But the one thing that you do not do is go sleep near places that inadvertedly breed mosquitos by having lots of containers around their yard with festing water (open coconuts, cans etc), such as many indigenous villages, no matter how "spiritually rewarding" it might be "to live with the locals".
Stay in places that are clean and display a duty of care towards its visitors, because Malaria may not be what you need to concern yourself the most about. There are far worse health dangers (because the westerners immunity system is crap due to thousands of years creating ever more sanitised environment to live in) waiting for those who want to find "lost tribes". Off course if you travel during the dry season most of this is irrelevant as there will be no mossiea around except on islands that have mountains creating rainfall and wet pockets.
Hope it helps.

Thanks a lot for the information, it really helps me!

I am travelling to Port Villa in December for 9 days. I don't want to take malaria tablets as I plan to fall pregnant in the near future. I am in two minds regarding malaria medication and the risks...any advise?

dont take it in port vila, theres no need at all

I've worked and sailed in Vanuatu, but never lived there for longer than 3 months at a time. Often in remote villages as per my job description. There is malaria in Vanuatu. The majority is of the P. vivax form, and whilst it doesn't cause the lifethreatening problems associated with P. falciparum forms, can be nasty. Malaria is often a disease of rural areas, although there are exceptions to this and so if you are heading out into the rural areas, then at the very least protect yourself against bites as much as possible if you are not taking prophylaxis. Remember the anopheles female mosquito prefers to bite at night, but doesn't do so exclusively. Mosquito nets, preferably TREATED nets would be a great idea.

The rates of positive malaria films at Northern District Hospital in Luganville on Santo is dropping every year, but there are definite cases in the more inaccessible areas of Santo, including the west and northern areas. There are cases of falciparum there too. Malaria is more prevalent after the onset of the rainy season. Feel free to PM if you want more info.