Indonesia Travel Answers

None of us are medical experts. You should take the advice or your GP or go to a specialist travel clinic (if you are happy to pay), not least because your personal health status is a relevant aspect. Look at the NHS fitfortravel website for health advice & requirements for Indonesia: fitfortravel.nhs.uk/destinat... It tells you what incoulations you may need and, if you scroll down, there is a malaria map. Do remember that malaria can be a killer (we lost a VT member to malaria some years ago). And it only takes one bite. You can discuss what anti-malarials are now available, and their potential side-effects, with your GP.

Typhoid, Hepatitis A (if you have not had already - many people did have it but they don't know) and against Tetanus should be done also without going to Indonesia.

As others have suggested, you should visit a travel doctor before going overseas. But, just some words of advice on Indonesia - you will be travelling during rainy season, so more mosquitoes and more chance of being bitten. I just returned from Sumbawa where advice had been that there was malaria in the south east although locals told me there had not been any recent cases. If you are travelling in the jungle, I wouldn't take the chance. Remember that most anti-malarial tablets will mean you are more photo-sensitive and therefore increased likelihood of sunburn so take extra precautions there too. Have a great trip.

Please take malaria seriously. It can kill you within a few days if not treated. While anti-malarial treatment is strongly advised it is not a guarantee against the disease. While living in Papua New Guinea I caught malarial twice - once while on tablets, a mix of two and once when I came off them. Thankfully it was of the non recurring type. Mosquito's build up a resistance to certain tablets overtime and treatments need to change - hence the good advice to see your doctor (one who is up to date with tropical diseases - plenty in UK so don't worry) to get the correct tablet or mix thereof. Remember you got to start taking the tablets in advance of visiting Indonesia. While traveling if you feel flu like symptoms see a doctor straight away remembering that the disease has a 10 day incubation period. If your back in the UK at the time mention your travels as the doctor would not normally suspect malaria. Without wanting to scare you (as chances are so remote) malaria untreated will very likely kill you within a week (or shorter). The disease is totally curable but will not got away by itself and the reason it kills so many is that they don't seek treatment in time or they cant afford the treatment. Sad.

If you were only traveling to Jakarta and Bali you wouldn’t need to consider anti-malaria meds. There is no malaria risk in those areas of Indonesia. For Lombok there are issues to consider and for Kalimantan, most certainly you will need anti malaria meds. IMHO the best web site for travel related vaccines and medical precautions is the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta, aka the CDC: wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/destina...