Bad blood in Belize
There's a footnote to my brief visit to Belize last month:
The Red Cross won't take my blood.
I was rejected this evening because the CDC lists Belize as a malaria risk area.
I had no idea. But then, I didn't check. Should have. Still would have gone, but I might have put on some insect repellant. Margaret did.
Fortunately, the mosquitoes weren't out when we motored up the New River or hiked through the forests at Lamanai. Maybe they would have swarmed at dusk.
Now I'm deferred from donating for a year ... again. I knew that would be the case after Kenny and I went to Tanzania two years ago. We took an antimalarial medication, mefloquine, but luckily weren't bothered by skeeters there, either.
Mefloquine can have some funky side effects, which Andrew experienced in 2+ years on the stuff. Kenny and I were fine.
CDC recommends chloroquine for travel to Belize, but I wouldn't mess with it for just a brief stay. You probably can get in and out of the country before the mosquitoes know you're there.
Comments (4)
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Doug, when you're an international man of mystery, you are going to have these things.
Yeah....BABY!
Posted on March 12, 2008 8:53 AM
Whatever.
But I hope I'm pointing out to readers that the most dangerous creature in much of the world is still the mosquito. Malaria isn't something to take lightly.
Posted on March 12, 2008 9:29 AM
You weren't in any danger of malaria. You only took a day trip into Belize from the ship, and the species of mosquito that carries malaria only bites at night. Also, they should still let you give blood because all they have to do to see if you have the parasite is look at a drop of blood under a microscope. You hear yellow fever's making a comeback in Argentina? That's an even scarier mosquito-borne disease. Fortunately there's a vaccine for that one though. I had to take it before going to Africa even though I never heard of a case anywhere near where I was.
You're right though, malaria is nothing to take lightly. I've seen too many of its effects.
Posted on March 12, 2008 11:36 AM
If the Red Cross could perform a simple and reliable test, it should.
Yellow fever is really scary -- and it once was a terrible killer in the United States. For example:
http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/yellowfever.htm
Posted on March 12, 2008 11:51 AM