Hello everyone, I'm on my way from Australia to Kunming in March to work for a year in an NGO, I can't wait to meet you all!

I have a question about malaria. I know there are some areas in rural Yunnan which have quinine-resistant malaria, and Westerners should probably take terms of prophylaxis, such as doxycycline, when travelling through.

Is Kunming city different? Just use mosquito nets?

Thanks for your feedback, with respect, Nathan.

I would like to know the same thing, so I'm bumping this.

Would I need anti-malaria medicine for staying in Kunming? If so, are these available in Kunming?

there's no need for malaria prophylaxis in Kunming. neither have i heard recently of anyone taking antimalarials anywhere in Yunnan, unless gin & tonics count.

Have lived in Kunming for a while and gave my anti-malaria away several years ago in Myanmar to someone who had just caught malaria. Until this post appeared I'd completely forgotten about the issue. Bites are irritating but that's as far as it goes, as far as I know.

Some prophylaxis have their downside and I'd only take them in a very high risk area and / or between being diagnosed with malaria and prompt medical treatment. The last time I checked, Australia, Canada, UK health services all provided different advice. I went with the Canadian advice at the time which advocated carrying the stuff as first aid treatment. For Kunming I'd forget about it. Kunming drivers are far more lethal.

Haha, thank you so much for your answers.
I'm not getting any. :)

@nnoble,
I'm with you on the Kunming driver issue. I'm thinking of getting some form of sedative just so I can be a passenger when my wife is driving (she's a Kunming native).

Hi Everyone.
I'll be in Kunming in 3 days. I've bought myself some anti-malarial tablets (malrone). They cost me a lot of money, also they have bad side effects for as many as 1in10 people. I've been trying to find some information on why i don't need them. I read this blog then i found the follwing link (This site doesn't allow me to add a link. You'll have to trust me or do a search) This shows all the places in the world where malaria is a risk from the 'International association for medical assistance for travellers' If you look on page 5 on the bottom right. It says that yunnan is a hi-risk how ever it says the Kunming is a no risk zone. This document was only recently updated in July 2013. So that has made my day and I won't have to take them.

From a website point of view.
If it is a medical assistance website then them must cover thier asses. If there is one or two counties in Yunnan that are hight risk, and they have to classify all of Yunnan as a single zone... Well what would you do?

I have lived here for 10 years and have travelled extensively all over Yunnan and never had a problem. Avoid the pills if possible.

I've heard of malaria drugs that have nasty side effects such as intense hallucinations of bugs crawling under your skin.

There may be Chinese herbs that help prevent or treat. Qing Hao? sweet wormwood?

Apparently, eating lots of raw garlic and taking B-vitamins repels mosquitoes. Or you can cover yourself with mosquito repellant I guess. Malaria is mainly transmitted by mosquitoes, if I'm not mistaken.