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This came off the rebreather list. Anyone planning on going to Cancun or Tulum should probably pay attention and take necessary precautions. ----- Start of forwarded message ----- From: Space2 To: rebreather@nw*.co* Reply: spaceto@ea*.ne* Date: Sun, 06 Feb 2000 14:57:46 -0800 Subj: Malaria in Cancun ____________________________________________________________ For those of you thinking of a dive vacation in Cancun - read the following and use precautions* while there. Also consider this disease if you get sick after returning. *Bugspray, room space spray, long sleeve clothing, trousers in the evening and permethrin impregnated bed nets for sleeping. For malaria prophylaxis, if you stay out of the sun (easy for a diver) and are not allergic, doxycycline may be the best choice for divers, but contact your doctor for specific advice. MALARIA, VIVAX - MEXICO (CANCUN) ********************************************** A ProMED-mail post <http://www.promedmail.org [see also: Malaria, imported - Europe ex Dominican Rep.: alert 19991212132216 Malaria, imported - Europe ex Dominican Rep. (05) 19991223082919] Date: Mon 31 Jan 2000 15:16:17 -0500 From: JD MacLean <md10@mu*.mc*.ca* Two returning Canadian travelers were diagnosed with _Plasmodium vivax_ malaria in January 2000, shortly after returning from a vacation in Cancun, Mexico.These individuals resided in Cancun City between 24 Dec 1999 and 7 Jan 2000. While one had been in India in 1996, the other had never traveled to a vivax [endemic] area except Cancun in January and March, 1999. Other than the city of Cancun and the adjacent beach resort area, they did not travel to any other sites or any rural location. A large group of their friends and relatives continue to reside in Cancun and have reported rumors of many other cases in the Cancun resort area. The two travelers have responded to chloroquine therapy and are initiating terminal treatment with Primaquine. The individuals still residing in Cancun remain asymptomatic and have been provided with chloroquine prophylaxis. To our knowledge no other confirmed cases of malaria have been reported from Cancun. According to the CDC <http://www.cdc.gov/travel/camerica.htm, antimalarial drugs are not recommended for travel to the major resort areas on the Pacific and Gulf coasts. Prior to our report only rural areas of a number of states were considered at risk for malaria. As per the WHO <http://www.who.int/ith/english/mexico.htm, malaria risk is almost exclusively of the benign [less severe] form (_P. vivax_) and exists throughout the year in rural areas not often visited by tourists. There is certainly the possibility that these two cases are autochthonous. Entomological studies will be necessary to clarify this.It is clear to us that local transmission is occurring. Based on the diagnosis of _P. vivax_ malaria in our two returning travelers, we now recommend that anyone traveling to Cancun, Mexico be advised to take chloroquine prophylaxis. - -- J Zaharatos, JD MacLean McGill Centre for Tropical Diseases, Montreal <md10@mu*.mc*.ca* ----- End of forwarded message -----
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