Darling daughter is planning on a
three month sojourn to Africa next fall, so Mom was arranging for the necessary shots. There's one for Yellow fever for $120, and one for Typhoid for $75, and then there's malaria. For
malaria there is no one time shot. You take a pill ever day. The pill of choice is
Malarone at $8 a pop. Three months in Africa, plus 3 days before you leave and a week after you return, and we're talking a hundred days, easy. That makes $800 worth of pills. Yowzer!
So I go Googling and what to my wondering eyes should appear but our old friend
Doxycycline, which is more on the order of a $1 a pill. The only problem with
Doxycycline appears to be "increased sun sensitivity", which is probably not a good idea for a fair skinned person going to Africa.
Update January 2017 replaced missing image.
I used doxycycline (for malaria prevention) when I went to India, and I didn't notice any side effects. The sun was so intense that we either stayed out of it or covered up when going out, so even though I'm very fair-skinned I didn't worry about sun exposure. Go Kathryn! -- Tena
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