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| Africa: West |
| 12 Marines Contract Malaria in Liberia |
| 2003-09-08 |
| EFL WASHINGTON (AP) - Twelve U.S. Marines who were in Liberia last month in support of a West African peacekeeping mission have contracted malaria and 21 other U.S. troops have symptoms of the disease, defense officials said Monday. Oh, *&!!#$%$@^&*!!!!!! This is not supposed to happen; Navy medics are aware of endemic malaria in the region and are supposed to make sure the Marines have, and TAKE, adequate prophylactic medicine. Arrrrrrrgh! Two of the Marines were flown from the USS Iwo Jima warship off the coast of Liberia to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany on Saturday and 30 other Marines, plus one sailor, were flown from the ship Sunday to the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., according to a brief statement from U.S. European Command, which is in charge of the Liberia mission. Lt. Col. Jay DeFrank, a Defense Department spokesman, said the Marines, members of the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit based at Camp Lejeune, N.C., were in Liberia in mid-August as part of a U.S. quick-reaction force of about 150 U.S. troops. They operated from an airport outside Monrovia, the capital. In addition to the 12 confirmed cases of malaria, test results on the 21 other patients are pending, officials said. U.S. troops normally receive an anti-malarial drug regimen before deploying to a country like Liberia where there is risk of getting the disease. DeFrank said it was not immediately clear whether the Marines who fell ill had taken such medication. They didn’t; that’s obvious. According to the WHO at this link, malaria risk—predominantly due to P. falciparum—exists throughout the year in the whole country. P. falciparum in that region is resistant to chloroquine and sulfadoxine–pyrimethamine, so the troops were supposed to take mefloquine. Details on the Marines’ condition were not immediately available. The European Command statement said all 33 patients were responding to treatments, but it provided no other details. So now they’re taking mefloquine. The two who were flown to Landstuhl exhibited more severe symptoms than the 31 others, officials said. European Command said it was unlikely that the illness presented a communicable disease risk to the other Marines and sailors aboard the ships. Not unless they brought the mosquitoes back as pets. |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #8 Guess the Pharma industry didn't get enough baksheesh from the Bushies |
| Posted by: Not Mike Moore 2003-9-8 10:55:32 PM |
| #7 Ship, That's fine, but I'm Air Force! Didn't keep me out of the jungles of Laos, or a few other things. Dengue fever is supposed to be worse than malaria. Thanks, but no thanks! I remember reading that more than half the troops on Guadalcanal developed malaria, and they still won. Apparently, the Japanese were in worse shape. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2003-9-8 8:58:39 PM |
| #6 Old Patriot: Dad and Uncles say a touch of Malaria or Dingy(?) fever is just part of the green experience. My grand dad says "rum pox were the worst tho". I fear to ask what sort of malady that was. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2003-9-8 7:56:08 PM |
| #5 I have a severe allergy to quinine, and to most of the synthetic drugs that were on the market through the 1980's. Affected my lymphatic system - parts would swell up like a puffer fish. That didn't stop me from serving a tour in Panama and another in Vietnam. I got sick once in Panama - fever 104-105, sweats, racking chills, but was diagnosed as having "a cold". Lost 26 pounds in five days - some cold! Took me five months to recover fully. I know two people that developed malaria in Southeast Asia. What I went through wasn't anything like what they had, and for that I am deeply thankful! The real kicker is that both were supposedly faithfully taking their anti-malaria medication. Guess that's par for the course - there are always going to be a few people that don't respond to vaccines or other preventive measures. But 31? That's stretching coincidence a bit far. What's really funny is that since Panama, mosquitos avoid me as if I was a deadly disease! DW and DD can be being eaten alive, and the mosquitos don't even buzz around me. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2003-9-8 4:01:13 PM |
| #4 I have a severe allergy to quinine, and to most of the synthetic drugs that were on the market through the 1980's. Affected my lymphatic system - parts would swell up like a puffer fish. That didn't stop me from serving a tour in Panama and another in Vietnam. I got sick once in Panama - fever 104-105, sweats, racking chills, but was diagnosed as having "a cold". Lost 26 pounds in five days - some cold! Took me five months to recover fully. I know two people that developed malaria in Southeast Asia. What I went through wasn't anything like what they had, and for that I am deeply thankful! The real kicker is that both were supposedly faithfully taking their anti-malaria medication. Guess that's par for the course - there are always going to be a few people that don't respond to vaccines or other preventive measures. But 31? That's stretching coincidence a bit far. What's really funny is that since Panama, mosquitos avoid me as if I was a deadly disease! DW and DD can be being eaten alive, and the mosquitos don't even buzz around me. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2003-9-8 4:00:44 PM |
| #3 The current best drug for malaria is called Malarone. Below is an excerpt from my standard travel med handout. Malarone is expensive, but kills the parasite within red blood cells, so you don't have to take it as long. Always wondered whether Larium was involved in 'Heart of Darkness" Ignore overseas advice! but if you get a high fever in malaria country, seek medical help and ask for Malaria films Aralen /Chloroquin, For use in the Caribbean, Central America, Middle East, and North Africa. Use 500 mg tablet once weekly, began 1 week prior, and continue 4 weeks after leaving the area. Take with food to avoid GI distress. Lariam /Mefloquin For use in South America, the Amazon basin, sub-Saharan Africa, and all areas of Asia. 250 mg tablet once a week. Start 1-2 weeks prior to departure, and continue for 4 weeks after leaving of the area. Hallucinations have rarely been reported, Side effects may be reduced by splitting the dose and take 1/2 tablet twice/week. Take with food to reduce GI complaints. Doxycycline 100 mg Works in all areas as an alternative to Lariam. Take 100 mg daily, start 2 days prior to travel, and continue for 1 month after departure from the area. Contains Tetracycline, and may cause photosensitivity. Primaquine 30 mg/Day 1 week before & 1 week after exposure. Avoid if you have G6PD deficiency, GI upset. Atovaquone 250 mg + Proguanil 100 mg (Malarone) 1 tab daily, kids 5 mg Atov./kg daily. No known adverse effects. |
| Posted by: Kevin H 2003-9-8 1:58:37 PM |
| #2 I thought they were using something _other_ than melfloquine for protection against malaria now? Aren't there other drugs available? |
| Posted by: Phil Fraering 2003-9-8 1:40:12 PM |
| #1 Malaria was nasty, during OEF soldiers were required to take mefloquine (under the name Lariam) every monday. One pill a week, unfortunately it has some strange side effects. It tends to make you a bit irritable and somewhat aggressive as a result, though that might be more environmental than the drug. However, I can tell you that when you're on the lariam, you can get pretty schidzy. There were stories of whole SF teams who had to take Lariam as well as anti-psychotics just to even it all out. I'm not sure how true that all is, the Medic I was hanging with might have just wanted to jack with me about the pills. -DS "the horns hold up the halo." |
| Posted by: DeviantSaint 2003-9-8 1:19:23 PM |