M.D. As mentioned in this article and as with all medications, there is a risk of side-effects from lariam. The statistical risks are explained in the article.
Malaria is a parasitic disease that kills between one to two million people on the planet yearly.
Travelers off to exotic, tropical locales may be at risk for contracting this terrible disease, which is transmitted by the bite of a mosquito. Unfortunately, in the last decade, resistance to this medication has developed in the malaria organisms throughout the world. As a result, alternative medications have been developed to substitute for chloroquine in the prevention of malaria. The best of these is lariam, also known as mefloquine. This is also taken once a week, beginning two weeks before entering and finishing four weeks after departing a malarious region.