Malaria

machote wrote:

Hello,

Is there malaria in Vietnam and
if yes, in which part?
Do I need to bring my mosquito net?

Frank

This is vietnam, Not Afrika
No worries..

Actually, there are two strains of malaria in Vietnam, a lowland and highland variety. Whether or not you need to bring malaria prophylaxis depends upon when your are coming and where you are going to be. As a general rule, you don't need it in cities where there is a public health campaign to wipe out both malaria and dengue.

If you are going to be staying for extended periods of time in the rural areas of either Delta during the wet seasons or in any area that is being fertilized, then you'll need it. (The fertilizer does to mosquitos what rising flood waters do to snakes and spiders. I.e., pushes them in to human inhabited areas such as houses) Your embassy should have a health tips section of their web site that spells out when and where it is advisable.

My wife's cousin in Vung Tau had malaria last year.

lirelou wrote:

Actually, there are two strains of malaria in Vietnam, a lowland and highland variety. Whether or not you need to bring malaria prophylaxis depends upon when your are coming and where you are going to be. As a general rule, you don't need it in cities where there is a public health campaign to wipe out both malaria and dengue.

When I first arrived in Sai Gon asked about anti-malaria medication and was told by my local chemist in D7 (and others) that there was no malaria here.

All the local Vietnamese grew completely immune to it before they reached puberty !

Go figure that one out.

Dengue fever is the mosquito borne sickness you should be more concerned about. And it's much more common and wider spread than Malaria. You don't have to visit the jungles to get Dengue.

In 1998 it was unthinkable to sleep without the nets in Cần Thơ.  In 2008 I only saw them marking laborers' sleeping bags when they slept at work.  In '98 houses had little fingers of water between them, gone in '08, that's probably the reason.

I think you should travel and live sometime in countryside of Vietnam to sing with mosquitoes Even mosquito net not enough to sleep!

hotpot wrote:

This is vietnam, Not Afrika
No worries..

All the local Vietnamese grew completely immune to it before they reached puberty ! roll

Flip, I believe if you check, you'll find that the correct term is "resistance". Yes, Vietnamese have a resistance to lowland malaria developed over millenia of exposure. But as they advance in years they become susceptible to its effects. At the same time, mosquito control measures have further reduced the exposure of those who live in urban areas.

lirelou wrote:

All the local Vietnamese grew completely immune to it before they reached puberty ! roll

Flip, I believe if you check, you'll find that the correct term is "resistance". Yes, Vietnamese have a resistance to lowland malaria developed over millenia of exposure. But as they advance in years they become susceptible to its effects. At the same time, mosquito control measures have further reduced the exposure of those who live in urban areas.

Last year around Quang Ngai hundreds of people, Adults and kids, were hosptalised with Dengue Fever.
      In Darwin, there are strains of Japanese Encephalitis,  ( I think it is here too ), plus another nasty one called, Ross River Fever, this one will keep you down for months, drains all the energy out of you. I saw on an article that said the best cure for this one, was to hold on to a mains supplied electric fence, 5--6000 Volts, it has good , but shocking results.