Mother warns travellers of side effects of anti-malaria medication

THE mother of a young woman who suffered a severe reaction to anti-malaria tablets has warned other parents of the dangers of their children taking such medication.

Katie O’Regan, from Dunderrow, Kinsale, watched her well balanced and happy daughter become tearful and distressed after taking Lariam, a drug designed to be used once weekly to ward off the tropical disease.

“My first priority is to my daughter,” said Mrs O’Regan yesterday, “but I also have to warn parents whose children are abroad not to dismiss signs of distress as simply homesickness.