Borneo Travel Forum

Hi,

Based in Langkawi for 2 weeks but visiting Semenggoh for a day. Is it recommended to take malaria tablets when visiting here for such a short period?

Thanks,
Brett

Malaria? possibilities are almost nil
You can a good insect repellant at the pharmacy over in m'sia.
Shouldnt be a problem.
for your comfort.... check with a local doctor (company doctor)

It is not necessry to bring Malaria pills. Just bring a strong insect repellant with Deet either 20% or to be safe 100%.

Cheers
Mary

It all depends whether you feel lucky or not.

My wife and I took all the precautions (deet + personal repellant on the exposed skin) and she was still bitten.

To be safe we took antimalarials but that did not stop her experiencing all the symptoms of malaria when we returned home last week - if it was not for the medications she would be a cot case now.

The wet season is just beginning and the nyamok are hungry.

The chances of getting malaria - who knows?

Need antimalarials for a short visit - how long do you think it takes a mosquito to bite you - do you think she looks at you and says - oh no good he is only visiting for a few days - will bite the next person!

I would rather not take the chance - the disease is not a nice one and people die from it every day.

Jack

It seems there is divided opinion on what I should do. The dilemma is that I am visiting Semenggoh for a matter of hours. My GP advises that I don't need to take it and on most other forums the concensus is that it is not necessary.

I understand the area around Semenggoh to be a low risk area, at least that is what it states on the WHO website. I am trying to get a good understanding of the risk factor as I don't want to be taking a course of anti malarials and suffering the side effects for the sake of a few hours of protection in an area where there is little to no risk. On the other hand, I definitely don't want to be contracting malaria.

More importantly, my girlfriend has to take medication which will not react well to anti malarials and this is an important consideration in the risk factor.

Thanks for the replies thus far. Any other advice from anybody else would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Brett