Malaria, specifically vivax

[loopymushroom]

Hey all! I'm delighted to have found this community, it's exactly what I was after!

Setting: Pseudo-mediaeval fantasy, climate about that of central Europe. I'm assuming malaria is not uncommon and is pretty recognisable to a physician, as the city is about a mile away from a sizeable stretch of marshy mosquito-infested peat bog, and it was once

Comments

[twoshadows]

my personal experience is of falciparum (I think- that's what was dominant where I was)so that's definitely less useful to you! But in case it's useful at all ...

For the 8 days before I was diagnosed, I was living in a camp in a montane rainforest in Madagascar. I would be able to hike a little/collect ecological data, but I would get exhausted really quickly and get nauseous. I had sore joints, stomach cramps, diarrhea, and felt cold all the time. I thought I was just having some cold/flu/or reaction to moving between different habitats/altitude. But if I were just lying in my tent, I would be totally okay and able to read textbooks and try and work through problem sets. I decided to hike down (the 3 hours, ugh!) to the local village doctor when I started getting dizzy, my chest felt tight, and had shaking hands at breakfast.

For the first 6 days after I was treated I could hang out in camp, hike down from the tents to the campsite, and did a lot of reading/talking with people. On the 6th day I tried working again (hiking in the forest laying out botanical transects). I could only work for a couple of hours before the symptoms came back. I then had to take two days off and just do basic hanging out stuff. I then ended up working half a day, taking a day off for about a week before I left the forest.

[loopymushroom]

It's all useful! Thanks for sharing your experience! :D