Re: Canda, Mozambique
Posted: 26 Nov 2012 15:11
I too don't take prophylactics. The last time I did, they made me nearly as sick as malaria would have.
However, irrispective of the wisdom af taking or leaving prophylactics, I would like to add the following information about Malaria as I understand it:
Firstly, the incubation period is from two weeks to seven months or even longer. So you need to be wakeup for quite a long period after your trip.
Secondly, mosquitos do not "grow" the malaria, they merely carry it from one human to another. In other words, a mozzy has to bite somebody who already has malaria to "get it" (they of course do not get sick themselves), and then if it bites you within a certain period, you can/will get malaria. Therefore, the more densely populated the area is, the higher the risk of malaria becomes, together of course with weather conditions suitable for mosquito habitation. I believe this is firstly the reason why it is spreading, and secondly why the Mozambique coast is a relatively high-risk area, much more so than the drier interior.
However, irrispective of the wisdom af taking or leaving prophylactics, I would like to add the following information about Malaria as I understand it:
Firstly, the incubation period is from two weeks to seven months or even longer. So you need to be wakeup for quite a long period after your trip.
Secondly, mosquitos do not "grow" the malaria, they merely carry it from one human to another. In other words, a mozzy has to bite somebody who already has malaria to "get it" (they of course do not get sick themselves), and then if it bites you within a certain period, you can/will get malaria. Therefore, the more densely populated the area is, the higher the risk of malaria becomes, together of course with weather conditions suitable for mosquito habitation. I believe this is firstly the reason why it is spreading, and secondly why the Mozambique coast is a relatively high-risk area, much more so than the drier interior.