Gambia - jabs, malaria etc..

[bagpussmice]

my sister is getting married in Gambia in July and we are going out there for the wedding for 1 week with 2 dds age 4 and 2.

Dh and I have travelled extensively pre-kids, but never taken the lo's anywhere other than Frnace. I am worried about jabs/malaria medication and the heat as it will be the rainy/hot season when we go.

has anyone been with kids and got any advice or reassurance?

Lucky you! We just got back from a week in the Gambia. I too was a bit concerned about health risks but as long as you take the necessary precautions you should be fine. The only jab ds needed (in addition to the regular childhood immunisations) was yellow fever. As for the malaria pills - hate them but definately worth taking/giving - several of the hotel staff had caught it while we were there (and it still isn't rainy season).

I went pre kids. Can on'y echo that the malaria pills are a must, and also that you have to get the right ones for the right area. Some places have malaria that is immune to some drugs.

Dhs uncle took the wrong pills and ended up in intensive care for 2 weeks! He is a doctor that specialises in treating tropical medicine!

I went to Senegal in November with dd (4.5). She is very needle phobic so the jabs were a nightmare. She had also never taken tablets before but after a total meltdown over the first tablet we figured out that we could crush the tablets and mix them with food - for the first few days I mixed them into some fudge and after that into a spoonful of nutella!

I tried to find a decent skin-friendly repellent (even though there weren't many bugs about when we were there) but ended up using deet (carefully). I know it's not great for their skin, but at least it works.

Have a great time!

I meant malaria tablets. BTW we both took Malarone which are very expensive but our practice nurse suggested I call several pharmacies to compare prices and they varied by about 30 pounds - so shop around if that's the anti-malarial that you're recommended to get. For some reason I thought they would be the same price everywhere, but they even varied in different branches of boots.