Tropical diseases

If it is true that the tropical area is excessively beautiful and rich in flora and fauna, it is also a full with dangers and diseases ecosystem, from which it is advisable to be protected, more still if one is not accustomed to penetrate in these ambient conditions.

Various diseases are proper to the tropical environment:

Yellow Fever:
If you wish to go to Amazonian forest, the vaccine against yellow fever (10 years validity) is obligatory. The vaccine must be anticipated because it becomes active only a few days after the injection.

Paludisme/malaria:
The parasite which causes the disease is transmitted by a mosquito called anopheles. This insect lives in the Amazonian side. One finds these mosquitos at altitudes higher than 2000m, but the parasite itself does not survive above 1800 m, with the result that if one does not project to go down lower than 1800m, it is completely useless to take an unspecified malaria treatment and even advised against, because it can bring considerable side effects. In any event, one must ask a doctor before thinking of taking any treatment of this kind.

Dengue Fever:
It is still a disease transmitted by a mosquito. This time, this mosquito is not only in Amazonia but also on the Western slope, especially in the north of the country. There is no vaccine against this disease and the treatment is done with antibiotics. The means of avoiding the presence of these mosquitos is in fact to limit their birth, i.e. to prevent leaving containers filled with water because the females lay their eggs there.

In any case:
That one decides to take or not a treatment against malaria, the best form to protect oneself is really, all stupidly, to avoid being pricked...

Not forget to have within reach anti-mosquito.

When the night is falling, towards 17:00, it is recommended, in more of anti-mosquito and in spite of heat, to get dressed with light trousers and a long sleeve tee-shirt to limit the direct contact of the skin with these insects.

Moreover, to pass quiet nights, it is better to have a mosquito net. Actually it is very recommended to buy a forest tour to a professional tour operator, who is trained for advising you on the steps to follow to pass a good stay in Amazonian forest.

IMPORTANT : : The advices of Puka Nina Peru cannot replace the judgment of your doctor, in particular in case of high- risk people. You must therefore ask your doctor before any travel.