# Risking more than getting shot **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 8, 2003, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/risking-more-than-getting-shot/200349 "2003-09-08T18:39:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2003, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/risking-more-than-getting-shot/200349/1 "2003-09-08T18:39:24Z")
REmember the Marines that were sent recently to Liberia? [12 of them have Malaria](http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/09/08/soldiers.malaria.ap/index.html) and another 21 have symptoms. later in the article, it does mention what I thought as I saw the headline > [@](#): > > U.S. troops normally receive an anti-malarial drug regimen before deploying to a country like Liberia where there is risk of getting the disease . what the hell happened? ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2003, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/risking-more-than-getting-shot/200349/2 "2003-09-08T18:41:29Z")
I was wondering that myself. ---
**Author:** ![Triss](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Triss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Triss)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2003, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/risking-more-than-getting-shot/200349/3 "2003-09-09T02:14:13Z")
I was think maybe it was due to some of the horrible side-effects of [Mefloquine](http://www.indiana.edu/~primate/lariam.html) but that’s just one drug and there are other anti-malarials out there. Very strange. ---
**Author:** ![coffeecat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coffeecat/32/3405_2.png) [@coffeecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coffeecat)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2003, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/risking-more-than-getting-shot/200349/4 "2003-09-09T12:49:38Z")
Maybe they got a resistant strain? Malaria prophylaxis isn’t what it used to be. The plasmodia are getting smart. ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2003, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/risking-more-than-getting-shot/200349/5 "2003-09-09T13:19:15Z")
BTW, please pardon my ignorance, but is it fatal? Treatable? Etc. ---
**Author:** ![Neurotik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/91b2a8/32.png) [@Neurotik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neurotik)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2003, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/risking-more-than-getting-shot/200349/6 "2003-09-09T13:46:58Z")
Malaria? It’s sometimes fatal. I think the WHO reports there are something like 500 million cases each year, with only a million dying from it - most of them being folks with no reliable access to medical care. The soldiers who got it are going to be in for an extremely unpleasant time, but they’ll be fine. There are a lot of treatments out there. ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2003, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/risking-more-than-getting-shot/200349/7 "2003-09-09T15:30:12Z")
I was wondering the same thing and just chalked it up to foggy news copy. It is pretty standard procedure for soldiers (heck, even tourists) to get doses of anti-malarials before they go off into jungles and rainforests. So what probably happened is that _presumably_ the soldiers did get dosed, but that the news report _couldn’t verify_ with certaintly that they did (or did not) by the time the story was released. So had to say something wishy-washy like “normally they get dosed before going.” Elsewhere it’s written “details on the sick Marines’ conditions were not immediately available.” – so likely there’s just not enough info on what prophylactic drugs they did (or did not) take before deploying. As **coffeecat** pointed out, there are some nasty strains that can sicken you despite proactive drugs. Poor jarheads are going to feel pretty lousy for a bit. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2003, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/risking-more-than-getting-shot/200349/8 "2003-09-09T19:35:24Z")
My dad had to take mefloquine or some other bizarre drug when in Congo-Kinshasa covering the war there last year. It made him _very_ wonky, and he eventually had to stop taking it because he simply couldn’t do his job. I don’t remember whether he took another antimalarial or not, but I assume so. ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2003, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/risking-more-than-getting-shot/200349/9 "2003-09-09T20:28:18Z")
[more](http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/09/09/liberia.malaria/index.html) have gotten sick. according to this, they’d all been issued the correct meds and instructions. I understand that the precautions wouldn’t necessarily be 100% effective, but isn’t this an awfully _large_ percentage that managed to contract it anyhow??? Pour quoi?? more effecient skeeters? more virulent strain? meds out of date? soldiers not following instructions??? administrational fuck up? (ie left hand issuing orders, right hand, well, busy) ---
**Author:** ![Neurotik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/91b2a8/32.png) [@Neurotik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neurotik)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2003, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/risking-more-than-getting-shot/200349/10 "2003-09-09T22:00:44Z")
It could be a little of everything. I think for the malaria drugs you need to be fairly precise in taking them otherwise they don’t work as well. I can see how soldiers might not keep up exactly on the regimen. Probably an admin fuck up in there, too, with maybe not enough malaria training. And more than likely, a bit of a change in the malaria itself. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2003, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/risking-more-than-getting-shot/200349/11 "2003-09-10T00:46:55Z")
It is my understanding that once you contract malaria, you’re a carrier forever. Is that correct? If so, those guys can never leave the country again, since nobody will accept tourists, or soldiers, with communicable diseases. ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2003, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/risking-more-than-getting-shot/200349/12 "2003-09-10T17:05:44Z")
CDC general fact sheet on malaria: [http://www.cdc.gov/travel/malinfo.htm](http://www.cdc.gov/travel/malinfo.htm) CDC fact sheet on malaria in West Africa: [http://www.cdc.gov/travel/regionalmalaria/wafrica.htm](http://www.cdc.gov/travel/regionalmalaria/wafrica.htm) ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2003, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/risking-more-than-getting-shot/200349/13 "2003-09-10T17:15:45Z")
Also, here’s an interesting article about cases of malaria spiking here after the return of veterans of the Korean and Vietnam wars: [http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-ppmalariavet31aug31,0,3770446.story?coll=sfla-news-sfla](http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-ppmalariavet31aug31,0,3770446.story?coll=sfla-news-sfla) ---
**Author:** ![Read\_Neck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e19b73/32.png) [@Read\_Neck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Read_Neck)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2003, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/risking-more-than-getting-shot/200349/14 "2003-09-10T18:17:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Airman Doors, USAF \* > \*\*It is my understanding that once you contract malaria, you’re a carrier forever. Is that correct? > > If so, those guys can never leave the country again, since nobody will accept tourists, or soldiers, with communicable diseases. \*\* I got falciprium malaria in 68 after taking the “big orange pill” every Sunday. (The gunny came around with a big bottle and made sure.) When I was released from the hospital.they said that you never actually got rid of it but it was dormant in your system. Although they didn’t describe me as a “carrier”,I was cautioned not to “give blood”. One side affect they neglected to mention was that it makes you highly susceptible to infectious hepatytis.