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Peter I will duplicate your actions on medication sounds good also the other recommendations. Yes there are vacanices on the trip, it is a liveaboard and most of the diving will be in the 140 to 210 foot range with a couple of us doing dives on the atlanta, which i beleive maxes out at around 400, but we do not plan on going to the sand thus will be in the 300 to 350 range Tom Peter Heseltine wrote: > > Tom, > > On Tue, 24 Sep 1996, Tom Mount wrote: > > > I'm going to the south pacifice and the solomons > > for about a months duration. Shoudl I take medication or not. We will be > > diving in the 60 to 120 meter range and I do not want Malaria but I also > > do not wish to have diving related problems. > > I suspect that the number of people who have taken a dose of mefloquin or > doxycycline and then dived to (540 fsw) 180m can be counted on the thumbs > of one foot. So, I cannot give you any real data on the risks, of which > there may be none. > > The risk of malaria in the Solomons is not great in tourist areas and low > when on live aboards. Your greatest risk is arriving in a village at > sunset or sleeping overnight in rural/suburban areas. > > The US Public Health Service/Centers for Disease Control recommends that > US tourists use mefloquin weekly in these areas for malaria prophylaxis. > > Many Infectious Disease specialists, including myself, do not agree and > prefer to use the advice of the people who really know, because they > live/visit there - the Australians. They recommend using doxycycline 100 mg > at bedtime. As I noted this is not without any side effects, but may be more > effective. Two years ago four of us took doxy and dived at Walindi for a > week . None of us got malaria and none of us had side-effects diving to > 120 fsw, for what that's worth. That's what I did and I would do it again > and follow the most important advice: > > > > (1) Bring your own can of room insect spray and spray > > > your sleeping room just after dusk. (2) Use DEET (at least 60% or more) > > > on your *clothing* in the evening or if you are in > > > the forest. Apply sparingly to your skin and wear > > > long sleeves and long pants. (3) Bring and use a bed net with you, > > > one that has been impregnated with insect repellant. Many sports > > > /travel stores sell these as do mail order houses. > > > > > > If you get sick, get *professional* help. Someone > > > who has actually taken care of a case of "tropical fever" > > > in a tourist before. > > Don't dive with strokes; don't get treated by stokes > > Sounds like a great trip. Any vacancies to 180 fsw? ;-) > > -ph > > ******************************************************************* > * Peter Heseltine, M.D., F.A.C.P. * > * Professor of Medicine * > * University of Southern California LAC+USC Medical Center * > * Tel: 213/226-6705 1200 North State Street * > * Fax: 213/226-2479 Los Angeles, CA 90033-1084 * > * Eml: heseltin@hs*.us*.ed* USA * > *******************************************************************
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