In my previous article about malaria, 2 of my colleagues had it. By the time I wrote this, 3 others had gotten it including myself. So in my first month here, 4 of my colleagues had gotten malaria and I myself also had it.

There are 4 types of malaria and in East TImor, there are 2 known types - Falciparum and Vivax. Falciparum is more serious and life-threatening if not treated early. This is also more common in East TImor. I had this, so do my colleagues. Strangely, in East Timor, few people encounter the symptoms that is associated with malaria(especially the more serious Falciparum where patients normally develop a high fever and had chills). Most of us just felt tired or had headache. One of them had chills in his leg. But other than this, there were no other visible symptoms. In fact, I had a checkup only because I had a severe gastric attack and vomitted. I had no symptoms except fatigue. My treatment is a combination of Fansidar and Doxycycline(an anti-biotic that treats other ailments too). I took these for 2 days and on my 3rd day, my malaria test was negative. I was cured. It was pretty fast. Thank God for my speedy recovery. (a big thank you to those who have prayed for me too)

According to my doctor, Falciparum is most common but tell-tale symptoms such as high fever, shaking chills is not very common. Patients with falciparum recover much faster than those with vivax because vivax can stay as dormant parasite in the liver and then cause a relapse some time later(months or even years). So the treatment takes longer (involves taking different type of medicine - one to kill the parasite, and the other to kill any dormant ones) You can read up more in this Malaria FAQ.

Symptoms of malaria normally take about 7-21 days to appear so if you came to East Timor and fell sick when you got back to your country, do tell your doctor about your visit here. Ask him for a malaria test. (especially if you have not taken anti-malarial drugs) If you plan to come to East Timor, do bring anti-malarial drugs over. Example: Doxycycline, Artesunate(quite a new drug. known to be very effective and little side effects) There are no vaccines for malaria so you just have to avoid getting bitten. (I'm spraying more mosquito repellent these days :) ) And go for a malaria test if you are sick.(even slightly). The cost is US$1 in any clinic and you can get your result in about 15-30mins. And in this wet season, there is also dengue fever to avoid. It is caused by a day-biting mosquito and well, my colleague's daughter just got it(poor baby)but she's alright now.