Malaria meds. during pregnancy

[AllieM]

Hi there,

Just thinking ahead here - we're trying for a baby and are also going to Kenya for a close friend's wedding in the Autumn. Obviously I don't want to do it but should I be pregnant when we go, I will have to take malaria treatment as it's a malarial area we're going to. I have talked to travel doctors about malaria treatment during pregnancy and they say there's only one pill you can take when pregnant, which is Lariam. Obviously Lariam isn't an ideal drug as there are side-effects, and also taking something like that when pregnant at all worries me. I'm wondering whether to actively prevent conception till after we get back; has anyone had any experience of Lariam use during pregnancy?

Many thanks for any info. ,

xx

people who live permanently in malaria countries cannot take these tablets all the time but here are the guidelines that keeps them from getting bitten.

1. dress in light colours - long sleeved shirt and long trousers

2. stay indoors in side a screeened building at dawn and dusk.

3. try to stay in a room with light colours and check in the darker corners for mosquitos before going to bed.

4. if necessary, spray your bedroom with bugspray designed for this at least 15 mins before going to bed.

5. use a mosquito net preferably one soaked in insect repellent if your sleeping areas are not screened properly.

6. use insect repellent when outdoors.

7. take a B-Complex supplement. one of them, which one i can't remember, keeps mosquitos off.

besides, its also a good idea if ttc.

I am currently living in a malarial area in West Africa and am pregnant plus have the advantage of a Masters in Public Health. Mefloquine (larium)is not recommended as a prophylactic whilst pregnant, the only safe prophylactic whilst pregnant is the chloroquine and proguanil combination though due to an increase in resistancy to the drugs it is less effective than it once was and therefore no longer particularly reliable as a prophylactic.

The risk of malaria also depends on (a) where you are going in Kenya, there is a higher malaria risk if you are going to the Mombasa coast than if you are staying in the highlands around Nairobi(b)and the type of accommodation you will be staying in, less risk in a hotel with air conditioned/sealed rooms/mosquito nets and obviously greater risk in tented camps/beach huts etc

Other than that, you should follow the advice given by kiskidee which is spot on. That is the way we live here!

Finally if you feel anything like I do at the beginning of my pregnancies then the last thing you might want to do is to get on a plane

Hope this is of use xx