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 Silent Puffin? wrote:

 Ghazkuul wrote:
even though the pills themselves caused significant health concerns.

Presumably Doxycycline? That has pretty mild side effects, especially at the low dosege that is used for antimalarial prophylaxis, it may even have cleared up a few lingering Chlamydia infections. Count yourself lucky that it wasn't Proguanil/Paludrine, that stuff is horrible.

Besides there is no way that the side effects were worse than contracting malaria.

You are 100% on both accounts.

The side effects most of us suffered were sleeping problems, stomach problems and the best, dizziness. Nothing says combat effective like dizziness

The point I was making though was that out of our unit the chances of even contracting malaria without the drugs was Zero to .01% or less and it would have been better to not be on the drugs. I am not saying that the casualties we suffered were due to the drugs at all, im just saying that the trade off isn't really worth the risks associated with the drugs. And btw I don't know for sure if that was the drug they used to use but ours was one of the first deployments that changed malaria drugs, because the other one caused hallucinations which is just bad juju all around.

 Ghazkuul wrote:
I'm just saying that the trade off isn't really worth the risks associated with the drugs.

Your chain of command obviously thought differently.

 Ghazkuul wrote:

The states with the greatest change in reported malaria cases in 2012 were Florida, which decreased by 48% from 2011 (120 in 2011 vs. 62 in 2012),

CDC

i was looking at a significantly older cdc model then this one.

But your numbers are completely off. IN Nimruz province where I was mostly at, there was ZERO cases. When I was in Helmand there was ZERO Cases, however if I ever went on patrol into the south, where the brits were, I had a 0-.1 chance in 1000 of contracting Malaria. So the chances are EXCEPTIONALLY low.

Again, you are very wrong:

http://www.giveapint.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Afghanistan.pdf

And just some more sources:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4102516/figure/pone-0102304-g002/

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4102516/figure/pone-0102304-g003/

Both showing rates between 1 and 5 in 1,000.

Here is the predicted risk for all areas, including your areas where you claim had zero cases:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4102516/table/pone-0102304-t003/

And we also need to keep in mind that these numbers are based on current data and they would look much worse in the previous decade.

You can also look at malaria in the Russian military during their exploration of Afghanistan if you are interested.

Malaria doesn't really exist in deserts so kind of hard to justify that treatment.

Malaria can exist at any place as long as you have a population that carries the disease and a vector for spreading the disease.

Population:

In Afghanistan you had a huge degree of population movement when refugees traveled looking for safety. Those huge population shifts always carry an increase in the incidence of disease transmission and they often cause previous maps to become less reliable because it doesn't help to just know where malaria cases have been present in the past, you need to know where the people leaving areas with higher prevalence are going so that you can predict where malaria will happen in the future and focus your prevention efforts there. That, on top of the already existing risk of malaria, creates a huge public health risk.

Vectors:

Malaria is spread my mosquitoes, which I admit are usually somewhat on the rare side in a desert, but they do exist in any area where you end up with standing stagnant water. Villages with pit latrines, areas with poor sanitation resulting in slow flowing sewers, standing water for animals to drink, slow irrigation systems, cisterns, any areas inside a military base where any kind of standing water is out in the open (mechanical areas, ac units, waste water holding areas). Of course existing water and sewer systems in the area will be strained by an increase in demand with the population shift evident in a war, and improvised facilities in refugee communities are the prime breeding ground for mosquitoes.

Those two issues combined is something that the board certified fellows will look at when making the determination if prophylactic treatment is worth the risk.

Of course I could also ignore the whole science aspect of explaining things to you, but I like to think that other people reading this thread might learn a thing or two, and just point out that US soldiers in Afghanistan do in fact get malaria:

http://archive.armytimes.com/article/20120222/NEWS/202220317/Malaria-cases-up-among-soldiers-Afghanistan

According to a report published by the Armed Forces Health Surveillance Center last month, 124 cases appeared among American troops in 2011. Of those, 91 — nearly three out of four — were diagnosed in Afghanistan.
...
The number of cases in Afghanistan is proportionately higher than the number of cases acquired in the tropical regions of Africa and Haiti, where U.S. troops provided assistance following the 2010 earthquake.

If I had to guess I would say that the primary cause of the higher rate is soldiers going "this is stupid, you can't get malaria in a desert" and not taking their pills.

Between 2004 and 2006, while deployed to Liberia as part of an international peacekeeping force, Swedish troops suffered no malaria cases, Fukuda wrote. Soldiers were instructed to use DEET-based repellent and mosquito nets; and soldiers took anti-malaria tablets together at the same time every day.

By contrast, Fukuda wrote, U.S. troops in Liberia took their anti-malarials on the "honor system," had no bed nets and their use of insect repellent was low. Thirty-six percent of the U.S. troops were diagnosed with malaria infections.

Yah, I totally didn't take those pills. Nobody does, not even the people that tell you to take them. Massive stomach problems, sever dizziness, horrible nightmares causing lack of sleep....nope no thank you. Best part was when I was told by the people telling us that we had to take it was that mosquitoes can be found as high up as 2000ft....problem was we were going to be at 6000 to 8000ft the entire deployment. So why did we have to take them?

Some people do not realize that the military can be forced to use things they do not want to use because Congressman have buddies that need a bigger paycheck and the military can be a good fall guy for that. Others don't realize there is a massive corupt pharma industry. Not all medicine is healthy all the time.

Lets not forget the pill it replaced caused psychosis in some guys. Leading to increased spousal abuse, murder and suicide. You know because you have to take them for 3 weeks after you redeploy home incase there is malaria in the US.

In November, the Army dropped the anti-malarial drug mefloquine. Users had complained the pill caused psychiatric symptoms ranging from nightmares, depression and paranoia to auditory hallucinations and mental breakdowns.

Which is better, 250 Marines having those above listed symptoms or possibly losing 1 guy to malaria for a bit?

 Ghazkuul wrote:

In November, the Army dropped the anti-malarial drug mefloquine. Users had complained the pill caused psychiatric symptoms ranging from nightmares, depression and paranoia to auditory hallucinations and mental breakdowns.

Which is better, 250 Marines having those above listed symptoms or possibly losing 1 guy to malaria for a bit?

It's almost like the process worked and the health branch of the military uses evidence based practice to continuously evaluate and alter their practice based on the latest evidence and risks.

But hey, keep on posting and you will get something right:

- claims there is no malaria in Afghanistan (false)
- claims there is zero malaria in these particular provinces (false)
- claims there are 150 cases of malaria in Florida (false, and the cases that did happen all came from foreign countries, including military members in foreign countries)
- claims there is no malaria in the desert (false)
- claims that no military members got malaria (false)

This is like a textbook case of why you leave public health to public health experts and epidemiology to epidemiologists.

Did you email the commandant with your concerns about the pills?

I think we have found our new rock for this thread.

 BrotherGecko wrote:
Yah, I totally didn't take those pills. Nobody does, not even the people that tell you to take them. Massive stomach problems, sever dizziness, horrible nightmares causing lack of sleep....nope no thank you. Best part was when I was told by the people telling us that we had to take it was that mosquitoes can be found as high up as 2000ft....problem was we were going to be at 6000 to 8000ft the entire deployment. So why did we have to take them?

Never having had them, do you become acclimated to the effects over time?

 daedalus wrote:

 BrotherGecko wrote:
Yah, I totally didn't take those pills. Nobody does, not even the people that tell you to take them. Massive stomach problems, sever dizziness, horrible nightmares causing lack of sleep....nope no thank you. Best part was when I was told by the people telling us that we had to take it was that mosquitoes can be found as high up as 2000ft....problem was we were going to be at 6000 to 8000ft the entire deployment. So why did we have to take them?

Never having had them, do you become acclimated to the effects over time?

Not necessarily... no.

It isn't always the case where you build up tolerance, like say pain meds.

 d-usa wrote:

 Ghazkuul wrote:

In November, the Army dropped the anti-malarial drug mefloquine. Users had complained the pill caused psychiatric symptoms ranging from nightmares, depression and paranoia to auditory hallucinations and mental breakdowns.

Which is better, 250 Marines having those above listed symptoms or possibly losing 1 guy to malaria for a bit?

It's almost like the process worked and the health branch of the military uses evidence based practice to continuously evaluate and alter their practice based on the latest evidence and risks.

But hey, keep on posting and you will get something right:

- claims there is no malaria in Afghanistan (false)
- claims there is zero malaria in these particular provinces (false)
- claims there are 150 cases of malaria in Florida (false, and the cases that did happen all came from foreign countries, including military members in foreign countries)
- claims there is no malaria in the desert (false)
- claims that no military members got malaria (false)

This is like a textbook case of why you leave public health to public health experts and epidemiology to epidemiologists.

Did you email the commandant with your concerns about the pills?

I think we have found our new rock for this thread.

Wow I kind of respected you for attempting to follow logic, but that just lost what little respect I have for you, you are nothing but a liar and a troll.

-NEVER claimed there was NO Malaria in Afghanistan
-Claimed there was Zero Malaria cases in his particular area USING A CDC MAP that showed me to be right
-Claimed 150 cases of Malaria based on OLD CDC Records, I said i was wrong already
-there is no malaria in the desert where I was, and the only times deserts have malaria is with stagnant water which is exceedingly rare in a desert (hence its called a desert and not a swamp) and with refugees, and again very few people flee to the desert for salvation.
-claimed nobody in my unit got malaria.

 whembly wrote:

Not necessarily... no.

It isn't always the case where you build up tolerance, like say pain meds.

Well, duh, that's why I asked.

To be fair, pain meds aren't the only thing. I take a BP medicine that was really rough for the first week or two but got better afterwards. After about a month, I don't notice the effects anymore.

 daedalus wrote:

 BrotherGecko wrote:
Yah, I totally didn't take those pills. Nobody does, not even the people that tell you to take them. Massive stomach problems, sever dizziness, horrible nightmares causing lack of sleep....nope no thank you. Best part was when I was told by the people telling us that we had to take it was that mosquitoes can be found as high up as 2000ft....problem was we were going to be at 6000 to 8000ft the entire deployment. So why did we have to take them?

Never having had them, do you become acclimated to the effects over time?

After two weeks of taking it, no it was always very severe and the dizziness was so bad I couldn't stand sometimes. Some guys started having really really bad nightmares around a month of taking it everyday. One guy couldn't tell what day or time of day it was and accidentally took it 6 times in 24 hours because everytime he napped he thought it was a new day.

 BrotherGecko wrote:

 daedalus wrote:

 BrotherGecko wrote:
Yah, I totally didn't take those pills. Nobody does, not even the people that tell you to take them. Massive stomach problems, sever dizziness, horrible nightmares causing lack of sleep....nope no thank you. Best part was when I was told by the people telling us that we had to take it was that mosquitoes can be found as high up as 2000ft....problem was we were going to be at 6000 to 8000ft the entire deployment. So why did we have to take them?

Never having had them, do you become acclimated to the effects over time?

After two weeks of taking it, no it was always very severe and the dizziness was so bad I couldn't stand sometimes. Some guys started having really really bad nightmares around a month of taking it everyday. One guy couldn't tell what day or time of day it was and accidentally took it 6 times in 24 hours because everytime he napped he thought it was a new day.

not everyoe gets effected like that just the most severe

 daedalus wrote:

 whembly wrote:

Not necessarily... no.

It isn't always the case where you build up tolerance, like say pain meds.

Well, duh, that's why I asked.

To be fair, pain meds aren't the only thing. I take a BP medicine that was really rough for the first week or two but got better afterwards. After about a month, I don't notice the effects anymore.

Well... that makes sense regarding BP medicine as it's regulating your actual blood pressure... whereas the anti-malaria drugs are used to prevent infections. In a sense, makes your bodily system uninhabitable by the bug.
For reference here's a list of those drugs and it's side-effect:
http://www.nevdgp.org.au/info/travel/bots/antimalarial_se.htm

After moving the goal so much and still failing to be right you resort to name calling? Even the old rock didn't sink that low.

In this thread we see the reason communicable diseases manage to still have outbreaks because people know better than public health officials and people should be locked up because of feelings instead of following medically indicated protocols based on the latest science which calls for self monitoring of symptoms for 21 days.

 BrotherGecko wrote:

After two weeks of taking it, no it was always very severe and the dizziness was so bad I couldn't stand sometimes. Some guys started having really really bad nightmares around a month of taking it everyday. One guy couldn't tell what day or time of day it was and accidentally took it 6 times in 24 hours because everytime he napped he thought it was a new day.

You sure you guys weren't being used as a test case?

Seriously though, that does sound pretty rough, especially with the stories I've heard about the prolonged shifts you have to do.

 whembly wrote:

 daedalus wrote:

 whembly wrote:

Not necessarily... no.

It isn't always the case where you build up tolerance, like say pain meds.

Well, duh, that's why I asked.

To be fair, pain meds aren't the only thing. I take a BP medicine that was really rough for the first week or two but got better afterwards. After about a month, I don't notice the effects anymore.

Well... that makes sense regarding BP medicine as it's regulating your actual blood pressure... whereas the anti-malaria drugs are used to prevent infections. In a sense, makes your bodily system uninhabitable by the bug.
For reference here's a list of those drugs and it's side-effect:
http://www.nevdgp.org.au/info/travel/bots/antimalarial_se.htm

The "1 pill a week, everybody takes it together" approach seems to be a good method. Lowest effective dose to minimize side effects while also maximizing compliance.

 whembly wrote:

For reference here's a list of those drugs and it's side-effect:
http://www.nevdgp.org.au/info/travel/bots/antimalarial_se.htm

We're looking at Doxy, right? Doesn't sound too bad there, though thrush could be pretty horrifying, depending on where it manifests.

 d-usa wrote:
After moving the goal so much and still failing to be right you resort to name calling? Even the old rock didn't sink that low.

In this thread we see the reason communicable diseases manage to still have outbreaks because people know better than public health officials and people should be locked up because of feelings instead of following medically indicated protocols based on the latest science which calls for self monitoring of symptoms for 21 days.

It must be tiring to carry such a mighty chip on your shoulder. Consider several of your "public health officials" broke your own regs to do things like...go shopping, pardon us mere peasants with having less than godlike faith in your prognistications.

 daedalus wrote:

 whembly wrote:

For reference here's a list of those drugs and it's side-effect:
http://www.nevdgp.org.au/info/travel/bots/antimalarial_se.htm

We're looking at Doxy, right? Doesn't sound too bad there, though thrush could be pretty horrifying, depending on where it manifests.

I just remember writing rules (not for Pregnancy/nursings!) and reports for proper usage of Doxy as it can also cause GI and Photo sensitivities.

d-usa wrote:After moving the goal so much and still failing to be right you resort to name calling? Even the old rock didn't sink that low.

In this thread we see the reason communicable diseases manage to still have outbreaks because people know better than public health officials and people should be locked up because of feelings instead of following medically indicated protocols based on the latest science which calls for self monitoring of symptoms for 21 days.

To be fair there is none of that in the military. There is no doctor consultant nor will there ever be on. You get handed a bottle of pills and are to take until you are out of them. An if you have side effects your told to be quiet or lose rank. So you could see why some of us don't just take the experts at face value.

daedalus wrote:

 BrotherGecko wrote:

After two weeks of taking it, no it was always very severe and the dizziness was so bad I couldn't stand sometimes. Some guys started having really really bad nightmares around a month of taking it everyday. One guy couldn't tell what day or time of day it was and accidentally took it 6 times in 24 hours because everytime he napped he thought it was a new day.

You sure you guys weren't being used as a test case?

Seriously though, that does sound pretty rough, especially with the stories I've heard about the prolonged shifts you have to do.

Well we also go to wear permethrin treated uniforms. Which also has a whole host of great side effects. After the first day of wearing a treated uniformed I made sure to wash it repeatedly until the permethrin was gone.

But no we got all the standard no need to worry everything is fine equipment and drugs.

d-usa wrote:

 whembly wrote:

 daedalus wrote:

 whembly wrote:

Not necessarily... no.

It isn't always the case where you build up tolerance, like say pain meds.

Well, duh, that's why I asked.

To be fair, pain meds aren't the only thing. I take a BP medicine that was really rough for the first week or two but got better afterwards. After about a month, I don't notice the effects anymore.

Well... that makes sense regarding BP medicine as it's regulating your actual blood pressure... whereas the anti-malaria drugs are used to prevent infections. In a sense, makes your bodily system uninhabitable by the bug.
For reference here's a list of those drugs and it's side-effect:
http://www.nevdgp.org.au/info/travel/bots/antimalarial_se.htm

The "1 pill a week, everybody takes it together" approach seems to be a good method. Lowest effective dose to minimize side effects while also maximizing compliance.

Its a once a day pill. As far as my research has gone side effects are not the exception but the standard. Maybe you could try it out see if you could take it everyday then do physical labor for 18 to 20 hours straight and maintain your opinion of a benevolent pharma industry. An I mean that in all seriousness. Your judging peoples experiences against the word of somebody who is paid to say everything is okay.

 BrotherGecko wrote:

Well we also go to wear permethrin treated uniforms. Which also has a whole host of great side effects. After the first day of wearing a treated uniformed I made sure to wash it repeatedly until the permethrin was gone.

But no we got all the standard no need to worry everything is fine equipment and drugs.

Hey, I think I have a bottle of that.

(checks camping gear)

Yup. Huh. Never noticed side effects, but maybe that's the difference between consumer grade and military grade. Also, not living in the things I spray with it with more than 18 hours or so, I suppose.

 daedalus wrote:

 BrotherGecko wrote:

Well we also go to wear permethrin treated uniforms. Which also has a whole host of great side effects. After the first day of wearing a treated uniformed I made sure to wash it repeatedly until the permethrin was gone.

But no we got all the standard no need to worry everything is fine equipment and drugs.

Hey, I think I have a bottle of that.

(checks camping gear)

Yup. Huh. Never noticed side effects, but maybe that's the difference between consumer grade and military grade. Also, not living in the things I spray with it with more than 18 hours or so, I suppose.

Military used to get (not sure if they currently do) bottles of actual high concentrated fething DEET in a eye dropper like bottle. Just a drop on your labels is enough to keep those buggers away. I've yet to see that in the US consumer markets (but, I'm sure you can get 'em out of the states).

DEET plus Permethrin use has been linked to as the probable cause for Gulf War Syndrome. Never used DEET but you can get issued it by the bottle. There was a whole shipping box full of it at our COP. Glad I walked away from that. Actually I'm pretty sure you are not supposed to use DEET anymore but we did totally have a giant box of it lol


Between the living next to a burn pit, the treated uniforms, the pills, shots and repellents I hope I make 50 lol.

 BrotherGecko wrote:
DEET plus Permethrin use has been linked to as the probable cause for Gulf War Syndrome. Never used DEET but you can get issued it by the bottle. There was a whole shipping box full of it at our COP. Glad I walked away from that. Actually I'm pretty sure you are not supposed to use DEET anymore but we did totally have a giant box of it lol


Between the living next to a burn pit, the treated uniforms, the pills, shots and repellents I hope I make 50 lol.

Dunno man... I'd slather some toxic spills to ward these Alaskan buggers away:


:shudders:

 SlaveToDorkness wrote:
Agreed, its just that kind of logic that make horror/disaster movies longer than 5 minutes.

Nuke it from orbit- roll credits.

Especially since there was a case recently of someone who recovered during the outbreak that was showing symptoms again just recently. "science" and "facts" change all the time.

Oh my gosh you're right . It's like that point in every outbreak movie where you're like "Don't open that vial!" "Of course that cough means something!" etc.

I think she was a bit preposterous. We had a close friend go to help with the epidemic, and he observed a volunteer / self-imposed quarantine for some days upon his return. This nurse seemed to really bristle at the idea of doing so whereas others voluntarily did it as a precaution... just seems to be counter-intuitive that as a nurse she would be upset about observing an obvious public health precaution (although it would've been best for her to do so willingly, obviously).

 BrotherGecko wrote:
DEET plus Permethrin use has been linked to as the probable cause for Gulf War Syndrome. Never used DEET but you can get issued it by the bottle. There was a whole shipping box full of it at our COP. Glad I walked away from that. Actually I'm pretty sure you are not supposed to use DEET anymore but we did totally have a giant box of it lol


Between the living next to a burn pit, the treated uniforms, the pills, shots and repellents I hope I make 50 lol.

MREs from the 1990s, living next to burn pits where for some reason human feces is always present....(ANA) not to mention the A-Hole units leaving country who just don't want to properly dermo that Computer/Printer or whatever and throw it on the burn pit, being force fed poisons to keep you from getting Malaria even though you live in a desert where the only water you have seen for 6 months comes in the form of a 1.5 liter bottle (best guess, I have no idea how big those things were, but definitely not 2 liters). Getting your "deployment shots" at least twice because the doctors are so fething incompetent that they keep losing everyone's shot records.

Yeah, im going to have to agree with you, 50 seems like a long shot

 BrotherGecko wrote:

d-usa wrote:After moving the goal so much and still failing to be right you resort to name calling? Even the old rock didn't sink that low.

In this thread we see the reason communicable diseases manage to still have outbreaks because people know better than public health officials and people should be locked up because of feelings instead of following medically indicated protocols based on the latest science which calls for self monitoring of symptoms for 21 days.

To be fair there is none of that in the military. There is no doctor consultant nor will there ever be on. You get handed a bottle of pills and are to take until you are out of them. An if you have side effects your told to be quiet or lose rank. So you could see why some of us don't just take the experts at face value.

No argument from me on that front and I won't fault anyone for taking issue with "shut up, we know what's best for you" kind of situations.

But someone still saying "shut up, you don't know what you are talking about, you are a troll" after you take the time to explain that malaria is actually still a thing and that there are legitimate reasons for taking actions to prevent it and point out sources and facts that back that up? Those are the people I take issue with.

d-usa wrote:

 whembly wrote:

 daedalus wrote:

 whembly wrote:

Not necessarily... no.

It isn't always the case where you build up tolerance, like say pain meds.

Well, duh, that's why I asked.

To be fair, pain meds aren't the only thing. I take a BP medicine that was really rough for the first week or two but got better afterwards. After about a month, I don't notice the effects anymore.

Well... that makes sense regarding BP medicine as it's regulating your actual blood pressure... whereas the anti-malaria drugs are used to prevent infections. In a sense, makes your bodily system uninhabitable by the bug.
For reference here's a list of those drugs and it's side-effect:
http://www.nevdgp.org.au/info/travel/bots/antimalarial_se.htm

The "1 pill a week, everybody takes it together" approach seems to be a good method. Lowest effective dose to minimize side effects while also maximizing compliance.

Its a once a day pill.

I was referring to the regimen used by the Swedish troops. They do the once a week pill (higher dose on that particular day, but still a lower weekly dose than the combined daily pills).

I'm pretty sure that the US military could improve whatever they are doing, and I also believe that anything government is going to be incredibly slow in doing so. I'm not trying to argue the position of "the military did the absolute best thing they could", just arguing against the "I know more than the board certified slowed doctors" position.

As far as my research has gone side effects are not the exception but the standard. Maybe you could try it out see if you could take it everyday then do physical labor for 18 to 20 hours straight and maintain your opinion of a benevolent pharma industry. An I mean that in all seriousness.

I didn't have to do 18-20 hours of hard physical labor nor will I ever claim that my stress level of work will come close to that of a front-line deployed military member.

But I have taken Isoniazid daily for 6 months after I became exposed to TB and I have taken the HIV drug-combo after a needle stick injury.

Your judging peoples experiences against the word of somebody who is paid to say everything is okay.

No, I'm judging "malaria isn't a problem" statements against the actual scientific data that shows, very clearly, that malaria actually still is a problem and which appears to infect more military members in Afghanistan than in tropical countries.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Frazzled wrote:

 d-usa wrote:
After moving the goal so much and still failing to be right you resort to name calling? Even the old rock didn't sink that low.

In this thread we see the reason communicable diseases manage to still have outbreaks because people know better than public health officials and people should be locked up because of feelings instead of following medically indicated protocols based on the latest science which calls for self monitoring of symptoms for 21 days.

It must be tiring to carry such a mighty chip on your shoulder. Consider several of your "public health officials" broke your own regs to do things like...go shopping, pardon us mere peasants with having less than godlike faith in your prognistications.

How many casual transmissions of Ebola did we have in the United States?

 BrotherGecko wrote:

To be fair there is none of that in the military. There is no doctor consultant nor will there ever be on. You get handed a bottle of pills and are to take until you are out of them. An if you have side effects your told to be quiet or lose rank. So you could see why some of us don't just take the experts at face value.

That's something I would have expected in WWI, not today. Institutionally the US military doesn't seem to treat its guys well at all though, or anyone for that matter.

I had nastyish side effects from Proguanil/Paludrine after 3-4 weeks in Afghan. I went to the med centre and a nurse instantly changed my prescription to doxy which I can tolerate. Professional and effective treatment with no issues with non compliance, exactly what should happen.

Hey d, I think you misquoted me on that one.

Not a big deal, but in case the quote chain continues...

No, I'm judging "malaria isn't a problem" statements against the actual scientific data that shows, very clearly, that malaria actually still is a problem and which appears to infect more military members in Afghanistan than in tropical countries.

No your really not, your taking my statement that the AREA I WAS IN had zero malaria cases and according to the website you linked had NO REPORTED CASES, and then running with it to put words in my mouth, because according to you I said "theres no malaria in Afghanistan" which is BS as I have never said that in my life.






Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Silent Puffin? wrote:

 BrotherGecko wrote:

To be fair there is none of that in the military. There is no doctor consultant nor will there ever be on. You get handed a bottle of pills and are to take until you are out of them. An if you have side effects your told to be quiet or lose rank. So you could see why some of us don't just take the experts at face value.

That's something I would have expected in WWI, not today. Institutionally the US military doesn't seem to treat its guys well at all though, or anyone for that matter.

I had nastyish side effects from Proguanil/Paludrine after 3-4 weeks in Afghan. I went to the med centre and a nurse instantly changed my prescription to doxy which I can tolerate. Professional and effective treatment with no issues with non compliance, exactly what should happen.

Side note and completely off topic: what unit were you with and what years? I loved our british allies in Afghanistan, your guys rules of engagement were so much nicer then ours that I would try to utilize the British TF's whenever I could for missions.