I feel I must say something regarding your posting about the malaria medication. The use of mefloquine or chloroquine (Aralen and Lariam) anti-malarial medications are usually prescribed as a prophylaxis. This requires beginning the series of pills a couple of weeks BEFORE entering the known malarial area. The series is continued throughout the period one is in the malarial area and continues for up to four weeks after leaving the malarial area.

As you described the administering of the medication (either after entering a malarial zone or, even worse, upon the recognition of symptoms) the effectiveness of the medication is greatly reduced if not completely undone.

Here is a site regarding malaria from the World Health Organization: http://www.who.int/ith/chapter07_02.html#8

And the Center for Disease Control's site on malaria is at: http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dpd/parasites/malaria/default.htm

My wife and I have visited malarial areas on quite a few occasions. Everytime we have taken malarial medications without side effects.

John in San Diego