Palenque Travel Forum

Have there been recent reports of malaria outbreak in the Palenque region? Am visiting next week and was wondering about what protection to take.

Take mosquito repellent. The concentrated DEET lotion in the small bottle is better than the spray on stuff. Malaria pills aren't required, and if you arrive and talk to people they will be amused if you are concerned about getting malaria. The mosquitoes are a nuisance, but the incidence of malaria carrying mosquitoes is very low in the Americas in general, and extremely low at Palenque. Malaria is a very serious disease if it remains untreated, so if you have night sweats in the month or so after you return home, head directly to your doctor to get treated. The onset of malaria symptoms is several weeks. The treatment is basically a more intensified formula of the prevention pills, which act to stop the reproductive cycle in the blood stream. If you stay at the encampment near the ruins (see my pages), try to get an airconditioned room. Air conditioning and even fans can help eliminate the buzzing in your ears at night because the mosquitoes find you by your CO2 respiration, Good air circulation, particular of cool dry air makes finding food difficult for them. There's no problem with mosquitoes during the day as I recall at Palenque.