In Reply to: can you tell me posted by Tuberose on Tuesday, 2. August 2005 at 17:10 Bali Time:
Tuberose, if you suspect malaria at all you need to have him tested right away, if it is malaria it needs to be treated absolutely as soon as possible. If there's any kind of specialist in, or center for, tropical diseases anywhere near you, or contactable by phone, it would be best to contact them first - phone them up, explain the symptons and that you were recently in Bali, and ask what you should do. Your everyday general practitioner may not have enough experience to make the right diagnosis, BELIEVE ME!
I had malaria in East Africa about 13 years ago. I went to an area I knew had malarial mosquitoes, slept in a room without a mosquito net and heard and saw mosquitoes buzzing about all night. (PLEASE NOTE: I do NOT recall actually being bitten, so just because you don't have any telltale mosquito bites does NOT mean you can't have malaria). Sure enough a week or so later I suddenly started feeling very very ill - hard to explain, not a sickness like nausea but just so heavy and tired and unable to stay on my feet. This was SEVERE. Within a matter of minutes I was so ill I just made it to my bed, and I couldn't get out of it, couldn't even manage to call or shout for help, for maybe 24 hours. I finally managed to drag myself out of bed and drive myself to my ex's house. I did not at this point realize I had malaria. I don't know if I had a fever or not. But that night the chills came on, and then I knew for sure it was malaria. The chills were VERY severe, I could not stop shaking and I needed 4 or 5 blankets wrapped around me to feel warm enough (remember, I was in warm Africa). Went to the local ex-pat doctor next day and he was able to do a blood test and check my blood under his microscope there and then, confirmed it was malaria, put me on quinine (choosing the correct treatment for malaria is very tricky as a) the parasites quickly become resistant to new treatments and b) different strains respond differently to different treatements and, 13 years ago anyway, a doctor wouldn't be sure which strain you were suffering from. The only way they can (or could anyway) decide what treatment to use is to figure out where you contracted it, as often they know which treatments have and haven't worked for other recent malaria cases in that area.) Luckily for me quinine was the right treatment - I was in bed for 10 or so days, couldn't eat a thing the entire time (no appetite whatsoever) but craved milk and drank gallons and gallons of it. (and all my friends who visited me marveled that they'd never seen me look so good! I've often wondered was it because of all the bed rest or all the milk?).
Although maybe not EVERY case of malaria includes the chills, if there ARE chills that's usually a pretty good indicator. But malaria is not the only serious tropical disease out there (and don't forget bird flu and the likes), and some of them can cause permanent organ damage if not treated and so it's always best to have your son checked out thoroughly (and even if the symptoms subside, atleast have a chat with a tropical disease expert to get their opinion).