Lake Neuron

If I’m taking my first chloroquine tablet — and I am — it must mean that the Costa Rica trip is two weeks away. Two weeks!

Chloroquine, by the way, is an anti-malaria drug. You take it once a week for two weeks before your trip, once a week during the trip, and once a week for a month after the trip. Chloroquine can be used for trips to Central and South America; if I were going to Africa this year, I’d be taking a different and stronger medication, because the malaria there has become resistant to chloroquine.

I have never had any side effects or problems from any of the malaria drugs I’ve taken on trips, and hope this year will be the same.

If you plan to take a mission trip, or any kind of foreign travel to an undeveloped area, make sure you go to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention travel web site. It’s got lots of good information about vaccinations, malaria drugs and what have you. Print out the pages about the country you will be visiting and take them with you when you see your doctor.