# Malaria



## PDXnative

Having looked at the malaria maps in Thailand, it looks like malaria is only found in the northern parts of Thailand. Is this true and is it really a problem?


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## Serendipity2

PDXnative said:


> Having looked at the malaria maps in Thailand, it looks like malaria is only found in the northern parts of Thailand. Is this true and is it really a problem?


Jason, 

Malaria really isn't a problem for tourists. You're far more likely to get Dengue Fever than Malaria. Don't worry about either. A small point - malaria [bad air] is from a mosquito bite in the evening/night while Dengue Fever is from a mosquito bite during the day. When I was in Malaysia earlier this year they had recorded about 1000 cases of Dengue Fever in the country per week. That sounds like a lot but there are many millions of people in Malaysia. I didn't take any precautions for either as the risk is very small.


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## KhwaamLap

There are something like 2,000 cases of Malaria in the USA every year. I would say, unless you stay in the jungle near the borders of Laos, Camboldia or Burma/myanmar, then you have as much chance of catching it at home as you do here. As S2 states, Dengue is more likely, though its quite rare too. Dengue fever is rarely fatal (on the first infection) and usually gives a very sore haed for about 2 weeks. It can be deadly if it is caught a second time (and a different strain is caught). Two out of the 4 kinds of Malaria are reoccuring and hard to get rid of.

The side effects of Malaria tablets far outweight their need here - certainly in tourist areas - IMHO.


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## PDXnative

KhwaamLap said:


> There are something like 2,000 cases of Malaria in the USA every year. I would say, unless you stay in the jungle near the borders of Laos, Camboldia or Burma/myanmar, then you have as much chance of catching it at home as you do here. As S2 states, Dengue is more likely, though its quite rare too. Dengue fever is rarely fatal (on the first infection) and usually gives a very sore haed for about 2 weeks. It can be deadly if it is caught a second time (and a different strain is caught). Two out of the 4 kinds of Malaria are reoccuring and hard to get rid of.
> 
> The side effects of Malaria tablets far outweight their need here - certainly in tourist areas - IMHO.


What is your source for malaria in the USA? From what I have seen from the CDC, there is no malaria in the US.

As for dengue fever, there are 5 different strains of the virus. You can catch all 5, but once you have a strain, you are immune to catching that strain a second time. One of the strains can lead to swelling of the brain, which will kill you.


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## Serendipity2

PDXnative said:


> What is your source for malaria in the USA? From what I have seen from the CDC, there is no malaria in the US.
> 
> As for dengue fever, there are 5 different strains of the virus. You can catch all 5, but once you have a strain, you are immune to catching that strain a second time. One of the strains can lead to swelling of the brain, which will kill you.




Jason,

Evidently there IS malaria [bad air] in the USA. Here's a URL. I just checked ONE source but there were others. Here's what I found....

http://www.malariasite.com/malaria/namerica.htm 

scroll down to the USA. In 1997 there were 2001 cases of Malarin the country.


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## PDXnative

Serendipity2 said:


> Jason,
> 
> Evidently there IS malaria [bad air] in the USA. Here's a URL. I just checked ONE source but there were others. Here's what I found....
> 
> http://www.malariasite.com/malaria/namerica.htm
> 
> scroll down to the USA. In 1997 there were 2001 cases of Malarin the country.


I don't think those were cases that people got in the US. I think they got them traveling elsewhere and were diagnosed in the US.

CDC - Malaria - Features - 2008 U.S. Malaria Data


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## Serendipity2

PDXnative said:


> I don't think those were cases that people got in the US. I think they got them traveling elsewhere and were diagnosed in the US.
> 
> CDC - Malaria - Features - 2008 U.S. Malaria Data



Jason,

I don't think that's totally true. In that doc I included it did mention something over 4000 cases but almost all attributable to veterans coming back from Iraq. But not All.
Here's another source....

"About 1,200 cases of malaria are diagnosed in the United States each year. Most are in persons entering the country for the first time or returning from foreign travel. A very small number of cases are the result of direct transmission involving mosquitoes that live in the United States. Most of these have occurred in Mexican farm workers living in California in poor conditions."

Malaria

Again, I would agree the risk is low in the USA but it use to be a BIG problem and, like Polio and other diseases, has not been totally stamped out. I AM assuming that these sources know what they're talking about but it IS rare - considering there are over 300 million people in America. Anyway, the issue was Thailand and if you avoid the nasty areas of Bangkok and swampy areas around the bordering countries - or at least stay clothed after dark - your risk of exposure is very slight. Hey, if God wants you - you're His! Until then, eat, drink and be merry. 

Serendipity2


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## KhwaamLap

PDXnative said:


> What is your source for malaria in the USA? From what I have seen from the CDC, there is no malaria in the US.
> 
> As for dengue fever, there are 5 different strains of the virus. You can catch all 5, but once you have a strain, you are immune to catching that strain a second time. One of the strains can lead to swelling of the brain, which will kill you.


Yes figures are easily available with a Google search as S2 did. They are out of date, as always, the most recent being almost a decade ago. I was taliiing about Malaria having 4 starins, not Dengue Fever. Dengue has, as you say, five strains. However, if you catch a second strain, it becomes much m ore dangerous - many people die on second contagion - I don't know why, but there is some research out there if you wish to look. The first hit rarely kills healthy adults - especially in more developed countried like Thailand - the brain swelling is caused I believe by core temperature increase and can be controlled by a cool envirnment and rest.

There are cases of Malaria in Thailand, but most are attributed to travel in danger zone areas - like border towns (in particular jungle areas). My father-in-law has a strain of Malaria that haunts him eash year - he caught it during the Cambodian war and has bouts every year since. drugs kill of the malaria in his blood on each bout, but there is no way to remove it from his liver where it stay dormant for the next year.


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## Guest

I second KL's comments. Unless you intend protracted stays in the jungle/remote villages, the chances of contracting malaria are pretty slim. I used to have a bit of a phobia about malaria there but it eventually went away... mosquitoes, can't stand the pesky little ******s, but I take plenty of precautions in LOS, and very rarely got bitten. 

If you don't want to contract cancer from inhaling high concentrations of DDT or equivalent, then an early purchase of a electric bug zapper 'tennis racket' is advisable. Gives considerable pleasure as well as the mozzies are fried with a loud crackling sound. Apologies to all practising Buddhists reading this. I've had to revise one of the five precepts "Do not harm any living creature", to read "Do not harm any living creature except mozzies, ticks, viruses, etc..."


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## Acid_Crow

My brother in-law got malaria when he was working in Yalla (close to Malay-border). I don't like the side-effects from the malaria-profylax I've tried, so it's better imo to avoid getting bitten (wear long pants on evenings, mosq-repellants etc.), when visiting risc-areas.

When im home in Krabi though, I just let them bite me until I don't notice them anymore.


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## Serendipity2

frogblogger......

"...If you don't want to contract cancer from inhaling high concentrations of DDT or equivalent..."


I agree on exterminating mozzies, ticks and cockroaches [cucarachas] anywhere and everywhere you encounter them but what's the link about cancer and DDT? 

With regard to DDT, as I've read [no expert of course] DDT is not harmful to humans or the link has never been made. I think it did damage birds - thin egg shells which decimated their population. Here's a link [there are many] suggesting by banning DDT we've caused the deaths of millions due to Malaria and other insect borne illnesses. I've not found a credible study showing it IS harmful to humans but it was used by the environmentalists to ban it world-wide. 

Bring Back DDT!


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## PDXnative

Serendipity2 said:


> frogblogger......
> 
> "...If you don't want to contract cancer from inhaling high concentrations of DDT or equivalent..."
> 
> 
> I agree on exterminating mozzies, ticks and cockroaches [cucarachas] anywhere and everywhere you encounter them but what's the link about cancer and DDT?
> 
> With regard to DDT, as I've read [no expert of course] DDT is not harmful to humans or the link has never been made. I think it did damage birds - thin egg shells which decimated their population. Here's a link [there are many] suggesting by banning DDT we've caused the deaths of millions due to Malaria and other insect borne illnesses. I've not found a credible study showing it IS harmful to humans but it was used by the environmentalists to ban it world-wide.
> 
> Bring Back DDT!


 DDT is bad! I won't discuss all of the reasons, but just post a link below. And mosquitoes can become resistant to DDT.

DDT - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


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## Serendipity2

PDXnative said:


> DDT is bad! I won't discuss all of the reasons, but just post a link below. And mosquitoes can become resistant to DDT.
> 
> DDT - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



PDXnative,

You need to do some research. No, it is NOT bad and Rachel Carson's book, "Silent Spring" was not based on any science - only the author's opinions and they were wrong. Here's just one URL that might enlighten you - but then I see you're from Portland, Oregon so perhaps not considering Portland is the haven of more whacked out environmental idiots than anywhere in the country. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt - but read about DDT. NOT what your Portland buddies have told you. 

The Straight Dope: Was Rachel Carson a fraud and is DDT actually safe for humans?

Serendipity2


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## PDXnative

Serendipity2 said:


> PDXnative,
> 
> You need to do some research. No, it is NOT bad and Rachel Carson's book, "Silent Spring" was not based on any science - only the author's opinions and they were wrong. Here's just one URL that might enlighten you - but then I see you're from Portland, Oregon so perhaps not considering Portland is the haven of more whacked out environmental idiots than anywhere in the country. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt - but read about DDT. NOT what your Portland buddies have told you.
> 
> The Straight Dope: Was Rachel Carson a fraud and is DDT actually safe for humans?
> 
> Serendipity2


Wow. You really know how to make friends. It was not some "whacked out environmentalists" that told me that DDT is bad. It was the years of taking environmental engineering classes in college. :boxing:


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## Serendipity2

PDXnative said:


> Wow. You really know how to make friends. It was not some "whacked out environmentalists" that told me that DDT is bad. It was the years of taking environmental engineering classes in college. :boxing:



Jason,

As one who grew up in Portland and the Willamette Valley during the 40's , DDT was widely used. The case against DDT was tried in the court of public opinion, not by scientific study and lost. 

There is NO evidence DDT is harmful to humans. The issue of other environmental damage may be legitimate but, for example, scientists are still unsure why egg shells were thin. Could have been DDT but not necessarily. Easier to ban it. But are the lives of millions of people who have died from malaria so easily ignored? Another example of the environmental movement doing great harm is nuclear energy. Because of a small handful of environmentalists we are lagging the world in nuclear energy and forced to use coal and other fuels to power our country. The world is quickly leaving us behind - and we invented nuclear power. It is the ONLY non-polluting form of energy. Even the head of Greenpeace has done an about-face on it but I'll be the overwhelming number of your friends in Portland are still, knee-jerk, opposed to nuclear energy. 

As for DDT, It is still used, even in the USA, under certain circumstances.


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## PDXnative

Serendipity2 said:


> Jason,
> 
> As one who grew up in Portland and the Willamette Valley during the 40's , DDT was widely used. The case against DDT was tried in the court of public opinion, not by scientific study and lost.
> 
> There is NO evidence DDT is harmful to humans. The issue of other environmental damage may be legitimate but, for example, scientists are still unsure why egg shells were thin. Could have been DDT but not necessarily. Easier to ban it. But are the lives of millions of people who have died from malaria so easily ignored? Another example of the environmental movement doing great harm is nuclear energy. Because of a small handful of environmentalists we are lagging the world in nuclear energy and forced to use coal and other fuels to power our country. The world is quickly leaving us behind - and we invented nuclear power. It is the ONLY non-polluting form of energy. Even the head of Greenpeace has done an about-face on it but I'll be the overwhelming number of your friends in Portland are still, knee-jerk, opposed to nuclear energy.
> 
> As for DDT, It is still used, even in the USA, under certain circumstances.


We will just need to agree to disagree on DDT. I do agree, though, that it is beneficial against malaria and the pros and cons must be carefully measured in that use. The real solution to fight malaria would be a vaccine. Let's hope the one in clinical trials right now turns out to be as good as they hope it will be.

As for nuclear energy, I fully agree. The modern nuclear plants in Europe are safe and much more environmentally friendly than the alternatives.

Just because I grew up and live in Portland, it does not immediately make me an environmental nut job. There are plenty of those on both ends of the political spectrum, but I like to see myself more on the side of reason and science. 

How's life in Thailand?


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## Serendipity2

PDXnative said:


> We will just need to agree to disagree on DDT. I do agree, though, that it is beneficial against malaria and the pros and cons must be carefully measured in that use. The real solution to fight malaria would be a vaccine. Let's hope the one in clinical trials right now turns out to be as good as they hope it will be.
> 
> As for nuclear energy, I fully agree. The modern nuclear plants in Europe are safe and much more environmentally friendly than the alternatives.
> 
> Just because I grew up and live in Portland, it does not immediately make me an environmental nut job. There are plenty of those on both ends of the political spectrum, but I like to see myself more on the side of reason and science.
> 
> How's life in Thailand?





Jason,

We agree on nuclear energy and on relying on science to truly find out whether chemicals are beneficial. Sadly there are even scientists who try to pass off as science what isn't. Man-caused global warming is a prime example. Our planet has been heating and cooling since it's beginning and the Earth's temperature has a lot more to do with sun spot activity and volcanic activity than man-caused activity yet many in the environmental movement are sure the problem IS man- caused. To make their point they ignore what doesn't fit their model and skew other data. East Anglia College is an example where they fudged the data on global warming and encouraged others to do so. How on Earth can anyone trust them again? Luckily for us, they put it in e-mails - such was their arrogance.

Then we have the antics of Al Gore, telling us the sky is falling while HE rides around in one of the most polluting jets in the world and lives like a lord in his immense castle. He is one of those behind the Carbon Tax where he and his buddies will trade Carbon Credits. Talk about creating something from nothing and the fortune he plans to make. He is not the only one. These people are hypocrites and do us all a great disservice. 

Same with nuclear energy. We saw decades of skillful propaganda employed by the left to poison people's attitude regarding nuclear energy yet in most of the world they've embraced it - even Japan. And benefitted by it in terms of cheap, clean energy and a higher standard of living. And no air pollution. It is the only economically viable clean energy we have yet we are only now just waking up to the fact we were hoodwinked by the left. 

DDT falls into that same demagoguery where, once the well is poisoned, it takes decades to come back. If ever it is able to make a comeback. Like you, I hope science comes up with a cure for malaria but in the mean time millions have died and millions more will die. That said, I've not read one incident of a human fatality. People have worked around it for years and many have had it spilled all over them. No fatalities and no harmful affects that I've read. Thank you, Rachael Carson, for poisoning the well.

On the other side of that coin lets look at tobacco. Used as the manufacturer intended it is lethal. It will kill you. Every year in the US 500,000 people die from tobacco. Fully 13% of those fatalities have never smoked a day in their lives. They are spouses of smokers, children with asthma, people with impaired auto-immune systems and the elderly. That's the equivalent of 3 1/2 fully loaded Boeing 747's crashing. Every day! Yet tobacco is still legal. Why? The government makes too much money to stop it from being produced and sold. Even to minors. In the end they value that money stream a lot more than they do our lives. I have very low regard for government.

Perhaps it was unfair to judge you hastily PDXnative, but having been born and raised in Portland and living there for decades, let's say it was a knee-jerk reaction to what you said and the fact you're from Portland. It sounds like we agree on most things - if not DDT. I hope you will see if you can learn more about DDT and the benefits it gave the world. Before it was banned. 

Serendipity2


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## Guest

Serendipity2 said:


> frogblogger......
> 
> "...If you don't want to contract cancer from inhaling high concentrations of DDT or equivalent..."
> 
> 
> I agree on exterminating mozzies, ticks and cockroaches [cucarachas] anywhere and everywhere you encounter them .../...


Hey, you'll never be allowed into Isaan again! Cockroaches - a local delicacy!


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## Serendipity2

Serendipity2 said:


> frogblogger......
> 
> "...If you don't want to contract cancer from inhaling high concentrations of DDT or equivalent..."
> 
> 
> I agree on exterminating mozzies, ticks and cockroaches [cucarachas] anywhere and everywhere you encounter them but what's the link about cancer and DDT?
> 
> With regard to DDT, as I've read [no expert of course] DDT is not harmful to humans or the link has never been made. I think it did damage birds - thin egg shells which decimated their population. Here's a link [there are many] suggesting by banning DDT we've caused the deaths of millions due to Malaria and other insect borne illnesses. I've not found a credible study showing it IS harmful to humans but it was used by the environmentalists to ban it world-wide.
> 
> Bring Back DDT!



frogblogger,

Perhaps I was hasty on indicting ALL cucarachas!  When I opined about cucarachas, I was thinking about the New York type which are drawn to filth and which, in turn, they spread their own. New York is famous for them in neighborhoods that aren't very clean - I lived in a couple of them - then I finally found a good German neighborhood. They know how to keep their homes clean. 

Are the Isaan cucarachas deep fried, as I suspect? I've had deep fried grasshoppers and smelt [a small fish] but never cucurachas. I'll have to give them a try - as long as they're not collected from sewers or cesspools! 

Serendipity2


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## JamesFrench

Anyone know what the best maleria tablets are to take?


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## Serendipity2

JamesFrench said:


> Anyone know what the best maleria tablets are to take?



James,

None. There is NO tablet that will keep you from contracting malaria. That said you're more likely to get dengue fever than malaria so quit worrying about it. Put some anti-mosquito repellent on and in the evening wear long sleeves. The mosquito that carries malaria is a night creature and the dengue fever mosquito operates during the day. You've far more change being bitten by a snake in Chiang Mai [extremely low] or having your plane crash on the way to Chiang Mai than catching malaria.

Serendipity2


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