G'day Roman, Your paper is very interesting how long does this go back?
I am not sure of the name, but I suspect that is the same stuff that
some of my friends began using more recently. (In the past five years
or so) It required to be taken ideally for two weeks before leaving and
a week after their return as far as I can recall, but there was another
substance that needed less lead time. The side effect was that they
became yellow in their skin pigmentation and as far as I knew that was
the only problem. Some really white skinned women became quite brightly
coloured, so it was a bit of a joke. Tumeric would explain that, but
your article appears to indicate this is a more recent substance again.
As a lay-person I found it very enlightening.
Many of these mentioned people were long term residents in New Guinea
and Bougainville and places like that and it did cause problems needing
to use these kinds of things all the time but I don't know what they
were using specifically. There is even an odd malaria case from time to
time in the really northern tip areas of Australia, but this may be due
to people travelling across from NG. Some of these boats have a lot of
mossies in the bilges. Many places are now supposed to be clear,
Thailand is supposed to be one of these. I am not sure about Vanuatu
that is where the woman had been as mentioned earlier.
Personally I hated taking the earlier stuff, I think it was
chloroquinine but I am not sure.
I only took it for short periods because I was only in most places like
that for shorter periods. (Like a month or so) Most of the time I
avoided the real bad spots and haven't been to Africa or South America.

You would be aware that booze is a no-no with some of these things and
in the heat it was always nice to be able to have a nice cold beer if
that were possible, so one or the other was removed. Coincidently it
was obvious that teetotalers always had health problems of one kind or
another. Do you have any idea of alcohol effect with the curcumin? Some
of these indian families actually have curry for every meal, so they
must have quite a large intake of the tumeric. One place even had
"curry icecream" again bright yellow! (probably tumeric)
I always wore light coloured or white clothing, it was a most effective
mosquito deterrent with a trace of the insecticidal skin cream or
aerosol sprayed lightly overall.
Meticulous care with nets and burning insecticide coils at night was
normal.
I also liked to encourage gecko lizards, the translucent white fleshy
insect eating type, I actually made a point of catching and relocating
them. Oddly enough I have half a dozen of them here presently.
(Brisbane) I love watching them gobble insects, especially mosquitoes.

In some places I have seen aircraft tyres literally covered with
mosquitoes going for their life trying to get something, so there is
definitely something in the dark coloured items although I suppose the
tyres stored some heat and had a sofness similar to flesh. I expect an
infrared factor would have been involved.
You would appreciate the carbon dioxide theory which also appears "on
the money".
With friends that were unlucky enough to catch the bug it was never
suspected as being malaria initially because the symptoms they showed
were odd, similar to flu, that was the reason they received strong
repeated antibiotics, I believe this symptom is common now.
None died, but one is severely affected as mentioned, possibly from the
poor health, organ problems and other effects.
Dengue was a greater problem for me and was my worst experience, at the
time I was alone and really thought it was curtains. Luckily it was the
more common variety, not the haemorralgic type. I think the nick-name
"Breakbone fever" is an understatement.
I have some friends returning that have been on the topside of New
Guinea for a couple of years shortly so if there is anything of
interest I will repost it.
They have had no real problems apart from security which has become a
major concern there.
It is interesting to see the spice tumeric mentioned, as you are aware
it is a common spice used in Indian type curries often using meat which
may be "less than perfect" but produces a decent spicy meal which has
always been a fair element of my diet in these places, that may explain
why some indian families appeared to fare better than others.
Cholera and Typhoid was always my main worry as they kept appearing
every so often and I was always afraid of antibiotics unless as a last
resort.
One related interesting finding happened here a couple of years ago, a
clever experimenter designed an ultraviolet insect attractant which
contained a fan, and as the insects approached the trap, were caught in
a moving air current which allowed a centrifugal force effect to impel
the insects into a lowered surface tension, water trap, that air
continuued as another cycle so the fan power needed, was not all that
great.
A prior insect count before and after setting this machine, over a
large area an acre or so showed a reducton of insects better than
eighty percent. The machine was about the size of a four gallon drum.
The effect was startling and was noticed here mainly by homeowners in a
developing area realising they could venture outdoors without being
carried away by mosquitoes. The chap experimenting with the machine was
not aware of how efficient it was, or the potential clearing effect. Of
course the machine did require frequent emptying of the enormous amount
of insect carcasses.
You would also be aware of the insect strerilisation techniques being
used in some areas for mosquito control. These kinds of ideas together
have incredible potential but expense for lesser places would be a
problem. Here in Brisbane we have had a very successful mosquito
control method by aerial spraying of swamp areas but it needed constant
repetition and care with timing because of neap tidal effects and
breeding cycles, wind drift and all the rest made it a complicated
procedure.
In some tropical areas as sunset approaches the mosquito populations
are so vast that they resemble a cloud of smoke eneveloping enormous
areas and if you are unlucky enough to get caught by it you really go
through a lightspeed learning experience. I was silly enough to watch
this phenonomenon come toward me from about a kilometer distant and
suddenly being inundated by millions of biting mosquitoes, and they bit
through your clothes, and you try to hop around slapping your face and
every breath is even full of mosquitoes! So by the time you start
breathing through a handkerchief and try to cover or move to improve
your situation you are being bitten all over your body, I was lucky to
be able to make it back to my car and had a can of spray, so having the
respite sat incredulous as to how a circumstance like this could happen
so simply. It was terrifying.
I don't know much about the anopheles but would imagine it would be
ultraviolet sensitive.
The other one is of course this aedi egypti (spelling) which is of
course another matter.
Quite obviously with warming comes moisture retention, and increased
severity weather conditions, so mosquito populations logically will
increase as will disease problem potential.
I think the account of the Panama Canal construction is an amazing
story where intelligence outside the normal square was the means for
achieving success.
Your account is very comprehensive with logical conclusions, with my
limited knowledge it is very enlightening. Thankyou for the
information.
Cheers, Merlin.