Many moons ago, for better or for worse, engineering won out in the battle for my affections, leaving medicine unloved and ignored. Because of this I ended up just before Christmas discussing malaria with my GP and after running through the various options available for 3 months in and around the jungle asked which of the four or so tablets on offer he would recommend. After a noncommittal scratch of the chin he said "well most people tend to go for Malarone, it's a bit more expensive, but it's the newest and with the least side effects". "Hmm", thinks I "a bit more expensive. This means there must be a cheaper option" and after a little bit of sweet talking left his office with 2 prescriptions, one for malarone and one for doxycyline and some advice to shop around a bit as prices vary.
As with 80% of my life I ended up in the arse end of Tesco's:
Malarone: £272.80
Doxycyline: £26.36
Needless to say that I went for the latter of the two options; a factor of ten is a lot when you are on a budget. This has two minor downsides.
- Some bright spark decided the best, most convenient way for these to be packed for going away travelling would be in 19 containers with 8 tablets in each.
- The warning one the side that says"avoid the sun"
However, having spoken to my girlfriend who had malaria three times while she was growing up in India and who has come through it relatively unscathed, my enthusiasm for the subject has taken a bit of a beating anyway.
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