Malaria Tablets in Sandakan and Koto Kinabalu

We are travelling to Borneo in September. We are staying in KL for three days, Sandakan for two days (for a day trip to Sepilok) and then to Koto Kinabalu%26#39;s Rasa Ria hotel for seven days.

We have been advised by the travel clinic not to take Malaria tablets as we are going for such a short trip and will be staying at the coast.

Is this good advice? Has anyone been to Borneo without taking Malaria medication?

Thank you!

Malaria Tablets in Sandakan and Koto Kinabalu

We are also going in September and have been advised by M.A.S.T.A. (Medical Advisory Service for Travellers Abroad) that we certainly do need tablets. It only takes one bite.

Malaria Tablets in Sandakan and Koto Kinabalu

Hi,

You%26#39;re probably here already, but anyway. There are a lot of opinions about this and you don%26#39;t want to say don%26#39;t take the tablets and then you are the one that gets bitten.

I%26#39;m a foreigner who lives here in Kota Kinabalu and I frequently take trips out to Kinabalu Park, Poring, and the islands - I will shortly be attempting a roadtrip to Sandakan.

I%26#39;ve never taken malaria tablets since I%26#39;ve been to Borneo (Brunei) the first time in 1999 - and I%26#39;ve been to plenty of rough and unpopular jungle places. I%26#39;ve also never had a problem with being bitten by a malaria mozzie - although I%26#39;ve been bitten by mozzies plenty.

If you don%26#39;t want to take the tabs, I would say you%26#39;d be ok. But it%26#39;s really a personal choice more than a need - advisors like doctors and travel clinics will mostly err on the side of caution because a) they don%26#39;t want you to come back with malaria when they%26#39;ve said don%26#39;t bother and b) they do sell tablets for profit right?

For locals, Malaria isn%26#39;t even a topic of discussion.

I%26#39;m heading over to the same areas in October. Because I%26#39;m doing a 5 day jungle trek, the travel clinic here has advised me to take a short course of malaria meds....I take them 2 days before I go and for the 5 days I%26#39;m there. There are many different kinds to take now so there are quite a few options. I would much rather take the medication than face the risk, even thought there is only a short exposure period. That being said, if you are not planning on doing any jungle treking, it probably isn%26#39;t necessary.

I just got back from Borneo where my son and I sprnt 3 days on the east coast. we covered Sandakan, Sepilok, Sukau, Mennengol,Gommantong and Kinabatangan. We had no malaria meds and we both feel fine. We did use bug spray while there but the insects and leeches were a lot less of a prob than I expected.

Check fit for travel for good info but advise is fair as places you are going are minimal risk anti malarials not usually advised. Always worth taking a good repellant though and covering up arms and legs in the evening. Inland risk increses a lot and length of stay is not important if you are in a high risk area.

I%26#39;ll be in Borneo for three weeks in Feb/March, and I%26#39;m hoping not to have to take malaria tablets. Has anyone taken Maleria tablets before? What was your experience with them? Did you have many side-effects?

Hi nne70

Sepilok and Kota Kinabalu ,both locations at Malaysia

You would get better response at the Malaysia forum

Cheers

Hi

we%26#39;re also traveling to borneo, not doing jungle trek, just river cruise, sepilok and then two islands (Mabul and Lankayan). We would rather avoid Malaria tablets as they are very strong but on the Fit for travel website is not too clear ! Tawau is %26#39;red%26#39; while the other areas (Sandekan, KK) are %26#39;pink%26#39;.

We%26#39;re divers so Lariam is definitely out of the question.

Federica