The Palud

I wasn’t feeling well for a while, and after some serious GI issues and a fever overnight, I went to the clinic in the morning and the doctor prescribed an antibiotic, a de-worming tablet, and Immodium (to cover the broad spectrum of issues). He also took a blood sample to check for an infection and malaria (paludisme, or “the palud” as my coworkers call it).

I started the antibiotic and drank a lot of fluids and lay in bed for a few hours. I visited the clinic again in the afternoon to get the results, which showed that I had malaria, too. Awesome. The doctor explained that when the body is run down (like with diarrhea), even while taking daily malaria prophylaxis (and taking other preventive measures like sleeping under a bednet and using bug spray) it is possible to get malaria. He said that if I weren't taking the doxycycline, it is likely I would have a severe malaria, but not the case now. He prescribed a 3-day course of treatment which my housemate went to the pharmacy to fill for me. The treatment was 4 pills in the morning and 4 pills in the evening for 3 days. My system was a bit of a wreck after all the meds at once and no food in it.

My housemates were extremely helpful, feeding me lots of fluids and rehydration salts until my system could handle something solid. During this time, the water was cut several times, making it nearly impossible to hang in there while the daytime temperatures rose to 104F, with little relief at night. I was out of work for a week and only left the house to go to the clinic twice.

Despite how miserable I felt, there were lots of people helping to take care of me, with coworkers calling to check in on me (or stopping by the house even), and the doctor said I could call any time (in fact, he's the director of the clinic and at first asked if I were a Peace Corps Volunteer since he treats most of them). My coworkers were impressed that I managed to get myself sick with both of our major study outcomes simultaneously (diarrhea and malaria). Somebody, (Jess, this is your cue) find a vaccine!!