Contents of this Issue:
All publicly available
Club Cantamar, La Paz, Baja, Mexico
Don’t Forget There’s Malaria Out There
RV Coral Reef II, The Bahamas
Finding a Collecting Trip
Thumbs Down
Diving After Eating
Big Fish, Big Egos, Big Bucks
Convenient, High- Performance Octopus
When Divers Die, Part II
Velcro, Water and Weights
Another Couple Swept Away in Australia
Undercurrent On Line
Flotsam & Jetsam
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Undercurrent
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If you are traveling to any tropical or subtropical
country, you should check on the status of malaria.
Parts of Mexico and Central America, South
America, the Indian subcontinent, Asia, the Middle
East, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu and Solomon
Islands are presently reporting pockets of malaria
risk.
In a recent Travelers' Health warning from the
Centers for Disease Control, we found continuing
cautions of risk in rural areas
and in Roatan and other Bay
Islands. Travelers should be
on a chloroquine regimen.
The caution is consistent with
an article in the April 2005
Bay Islands Voice indicating
that the disease is on the rise. In children under 5,
there were 115 recorded cases at Roatan Hospital
last year. According to Dr. Duarte of the Galindo
Clinic in Roatan, "We saw a wave of malaria in
January--up to two patients every day." Last year,
neighboring Guanaja recorded the highest adult
malaria rate in the region with 37 cases per 1,000
inhabitants; this was followed by Roatan. In April, a
Canadian tourist on Roatan contracted malaria.
What does this mean for the traveler to the Bay
Islands? At this point, there clearly is malaria on
Roatan, although there is no evidence that it is of
epidemic proportion. Chances of exposure increase
dramatically if one travels on mainland Honduras, or
even changes planes there. So a diver would be wise
to follow current CDC recommendations regarding
antimalarial medications and take all routine steps to
avoid exposure to mosquitoes.
For CDC guidelines on preventing malaria in
your venue of travel, go the CDC Travelers' Health
Web site: http://www.cdc.gov/travel.
To check for last-minute info on malaria
outbreaks, go the CDC Travel Notices Web site:
www.cdc.gov/travel/outbreaks.htm.
- Doc Vikingo