A few days before we departed for Zanzibar, Mama Ju had a panic attack. She had a fever, and other symptoms of malaria, and was convinced that she was having a relapse. She was stressed because she didn't understand why her body was getting such a ravaging, and she didn't want to ride out the rest of her African experience stuck in bed. I told her that it was the panic attack that was making her sick, and her fever was just from the hot weather.
Just to be safe, she set off to the local clinic to get tested. A hysterical Mama Ju told me she had again (for the third time!) tested positive for malaria. She was angry that her treatment had not knocked it over, and we decided to go to Arusha to the Selian clinic - western style hospital recommended by other ex pats living here. We thought that Selian may be able to provide stronger medication to get it out of her system once and for all.
Curiously, the Selian's laboratory sent back a result confirming that there was NO malaria. When we asked the doctor how they could have two different results in the same day, he said that it is not uncommon for the local clinics (with dispensaries attached) to send back false positive results in order to sell more of their medication. He said that after the drugs that Mama Ju took following the first two bouts of malaria, it was almost clinically impossible for the parasite to have manifested itself again in such a short period of time. He told her that the symptoms she was experiencing were more likely due to the malarial toxins being released from her liver- but that malaria was most definitely not in her blood.
How bizarre. In good news, Mama Ju was again in perfect health just in the nick of time for our beach escape!!!
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