Malaria - availibility of preventative medications

This is the same place as the last outbreak so lets hope they jump on this again!

Guineo Verde wrote:

Do not panic. There is no malaria in Las Terrenas. I get bitten ten times a day and I feel perfectly allright.

Mosquito coils are effective, on sale everywhere. Repellents can be of help in some cases, like sitting in restaurant hoping they bite someone else :-)

The most important is to rest correctly in the night, a mosquito bed net is the only way to keep them away from you. They are available in many shops in the village. Take twine and small eye screws along with you.

Just to be sure...you're advising:
>> Buy a mosquito bed net locally [you mention small shops in village...but what about in Santo Domingo?  We've not seen in the supermarkets or Jumbo.];
>> And bring with us twine and eye screws with us for putting up the mosquito netting, yes? 
>> And an obvious question:  do the hotels mind the small holes in the ceiling from the eye hooks?  Or should we bring some spackle with us, for filling those in when departing?

We hadn't worried about mosquitoes (or malaria or dengue or Zika) during previous trips, but I'm thinking we need to for the future, when we'll be in DR for longer periods and hopefully outdoors a lot more. 
>>  My poor wife is a veritable mosquito magnet.  They literally fly past me or guests to get to my wife.  Our current location in cold/dry Idaho fortunately doesn't have many mosquitoes.
>>  She's also highly sensitive to scents of any kind, so no perfume, scented soap, etc.  She's all natural, and the mosquitoes simply love her that way.
>> That sensitivity to scents means she has trouble tolerating the repellants.  Can't be around most of them.   

Okay, thanks for any and all advice.


Jim
ExpatRusher

Jim - We have an apartment here in Las Terrenas and one of the first things we did was to add screens to all the windows and the slider to the terrace. Try to find a place to rent that has screens in place or that provides mosquito nets.

We are currently in a long term rental house while our home is being built. There are screens on all the windows and on the main door, but there is a large opening to the terrace (bifold doors - so the width of 4 normal doors) that had not been screened. After about month here, we ordered a large velcro on, magnetic close screen that is designed for covering a garage door opening. It has significantly reduced the number of mosquitos we find inside. We also picked up some tennis racket style bug zappers that are awesome - and quite satisfying when you zap on of those suckers!

I completely understand your wife's dilemma with the scents! I am also extremely sensitive to purfumes and artificial scents. Try one of the essential oil based repellents. I've found that the natural scents don't cause the problems that artificial ones do.

I'm a magnet, and had dengue after my first trip to LT, but tend to spend a lot of time mountainbiking, and sweating the repellent off. Deet is the best orotection, but picaridine, citronella, coconut oil, all have some benefit. Dusk and morning  are the worst. Keep to breezy places, apply repellent often, and wash it off before bed. Enjoy LT and if you want to mountain bike, its a fantastic destination.

I will keep on advocating the natural mosquito repellant, citronalla.

I buy the citronella sprays here. They work better than DEET.

I just bought another 6 large citronella plants at the large vivero north of Villa Altagracia on Autopista Duarte today to plant around my front terrace. Natural solution that works and smells good.

I can't agree with "better than deet", but they do work. I think the lemongrass citronella is the best of the "natural" ones, and they definately smell better and aren't as irritating. Deet makes my lips numb, and that just can't mean it's healthy. Having been cautioned about getting dengue again, I'm all about effective prevention. A little rash here and there seems like a good trade for staying alive.

Dont confuse citronella with lemoncilla lemon grass. One repells mosquitos tge other doesnt.

The reviews suggest they are equally effective. Citronella lasts longer and is apparently as effective as the strongest DEET. Equal but lasts longer and smells better and organic being my reasons to state better.

It works good in DR for me living in deep campo. Thats a good test imo.

expatrusher wrote:

Guineo Verde wrote:

Do not panic. There is no malaria in Las Terrenas. I get bitten ten times a day and I feel perfectly allright.

Mosquito coils are effective, on sale everywhere. Repellents can be of help in some cases, like sitting in restaurant hoping they bite someone else :-)

The most important is to rest correctly in the night, a mosquito bed net is the only way to keep them away from you. They are available in many shops in the village. Take twine and small eye screws along with you.

Just to be sure...you're advising:
>> Buy a mosquito bed net locally [you mention small shops in village...but what about in Santo Domingo?  We've not seen in the supermarkets or Jumbo.];
>> And bring with us twine and eye screws with us for putting up the mosquito netting, yes? 
>> And an obvious question:  do the hotels mind the small holes in the ceiling from the eye hooks?  Or should we bring some spackle with us, for filling those in when departing?

Mosquito nets are on sale ;

- At the big "La Sirena" supermarkets.
- Also at "Sederías California" ( Calle Duarte X Calle Caracas)
- And at many  chinese shops at "Barrio Chino" (Calle Duarte X Av. Mella)
!! These 2 last locations are a bit unsafe, especially for foreigners.

Eye srews :

If you screw them in the upper part of the door frames (the one that look toward the cealing), the hole left is invisible. Small eyes screws do no split the wood.