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My doctor basically shrugged when I asked about malaria medication for Vietnam and said it was my call, which was not the reassuring answer I wanted.
We are doing the standard loop, Hanoi, Ha Long, Hoi An, HCMC, maybe Phu Quoc, nothing super remote. Is malaria actually a thing tourists worry about here, or is dengue the real concern?
I hate taking pills I do not need but I also do not want to be the idiot who skipped them. What did the rest of you do? And is the mosquito situation in December any better?
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Pharmacist here, not your pharmacist obviously. For the cities and the standard tourist loop you do not need malaria pills, the risk is basically nil in Hanoi, Ha Long, Hoi An, HCMC. Dengue is the real one and there is no pill for that, just repellent with DEET and covering up at dusk. The pills are for remote border areas and deep jungle, which you are not doing.
Replying to Janet Allan
Replying to Janet Allan @Janet Allan That is a relief honestly. So just stock up on repellent? Is the stuff sold over there decent or should I bring DEET from home?
Replying to LoyalSeal3714
Replying to LoyalSeal3714 @LoyalSeal3714 Bring DEET from home. The stuff in Vietnamese pharmacies is fine but it is mostly lower concentration, and the international brands cost double what you pay at home. I brought a fifty percent DEET bottle and it lasted the whole three weeks. Also ask the hotel for the plug-in mosquito thing for the room, every place has them.