My doctor's vaccination recommendations

Krishnika

Just thought I'd post what my doctor recommended...
Hep A shot, booster in 6 months
Typhoid oral series.
that's it, plus any mosquito avoidance techniques available

mira4bai4

That sounds about right for general Indian tourism.

mercedes10

You'd want to make sure your Polio & Tetanus vaccinations are up to date as well.

docmarton

i strongly recommend rabies vaccination!

hepatitis b would be good as well...

Comrade Fidel

Would you really bother with the rabies unless you're going rural or planning to handle animals? My doc said it was overkill. Here's what I got:

Hepatitis A
Diptheria
Tetanus
Whooping Cough
Typhoid
Polio
Meningococcal Menangitis

I did a fair bit of research on what immunisations to get, and there is some excellent information at the Centre for Disease Control (CDC), which can be found here:

http://www.cdc.gov/travel/indianrg.htm

Meningococcal is present in the environment where I live normally and immunisation is recommended for everyone here anyway.

Didn't get the Hep B as there was no time, and measles because it was considered unlikely and I have prior immunity. The new Ducoral cholera immunisation was impossible to find (everywhere out of stock, many pharmacies I contacted had not even heard of it, and there was a six week wait to get more from the wholesaler, but its supposed to be very effective - too bad I didn't plan earlier).

I also considered Japenese Encaphalitis, which is super-nasty if you get it, but again, I'm travelling outside the transmission season, and its only recomended if you're spending more than a month in India or visiting a lot of rural areas during the transmission season. This one is quite expensive and not 100% effective.

There is no vaccination against malaria, so the only treatment is prophalaxis - ie, taking antiobiotics every day to kill the parasite once its gets in your system. Choloroquin is not effective in India. I'm taking Doxycyclin, which is a close relative of the commonly used antibiotic Vibramycin. If you've had Vibramycin before without adverse reactions, you may as well take Doxycyclin for malaria. Due to the lifecycle of the organism, antiobiotics should continue to be taken for two weeks after leaving the malaria region. Prevention is better than cure, so I sprayed my clothes and stuff with DEET based insect repellant and have DEET based repellent cream with added sunscreen for skin application. Sleep inside a mosquite net to prevent infection while you sleep.

There is no vaccination for leprosy (as the bacillus cannot be cultured effectively outside the human body). There is a simple and effective treatment for the disease, and the WHO makes it available free of charge to anyone, anywhere. However, many lepers in India continue to go without treatment (for social-economic reasons), which means they are contagous to others. Incubation period of the disease is anywhere from a couple weeks to thirty years after infection. Avoid close contact with anyone with obvious open sores and the like. More info can be found at: http://www.who.int/lep/

Plague (as in Bubonic / Black Plague) is also present in India! Luckily, unlike leprosy you'll know pretty quickly if you have this and treatment is available. This is spread through fleas, so again, use of a DEET based insect repellent is vital.

I'm taking a small medical kit with me that contains band aids and bandage, needles and syringes in sterile packaging (1 x intramuscular, 2 x subcutaneous and 1 x intravenous), a scalpel (again in sterile packaging), bandage, swabs, gloves and a bunch of other small stuff. The whole pack, which is marketed as an emergency travel kit, cost under AUD$30 (about USD$20). The idea is to take it with you if you need to visit a doctor or hospital and have them use that stuff on you. At the end of your trip, you can just donate the lot (or what's left if you were unlucky enough to have to use any of it) to a medical clinic or whatever before leaving the country. I'm also taking imodium (anti-dihorrea stuff - my greatest fear is getting a bad case of the runs while stuck on some long-distance bus!) and a course of amoxycillin (penecillin) on the off chance I get stuck out in the middle of nowhere and get sick, or someone I'm with gets stick. Again, you can just give all that stuff away when you leave (since you're not likely to ever need it back in your home country).

Hope this information helps someone!

Cheers,
Fidel

Tbone144

I'm living in Taiwan right now, and there is no way for me to get the Typhoid vaccination. They just dont have it here. Is this something I should be seriously concerned about or what? If it is, does anyone have information on whether or not I can get it in india anywhere. I am american, so maybe through the american consulate in india... Any help is appreciated. thanks in advance

Amaia

I'm taking a small medical kit with me that contains band aids and bandage, needles and syringes in sterile packaging (1 x intramuscular, 2 x subcutaneous and 1 x intravenous), a scalpel (again in sterile packaging), bandage, swabs, gloves and a bunch of other small stuff. The whole pack, which is marketed as an emergency travel kit, cost under AUD$30 (about USD$20).

Is it possible to get one of those first aid kits with the syringes in the US? There are strict laws about purchasing needles, I think.

kalidevout

I just got all my stuff done in preparation for travel in February. I went to my regular doctor who referred me to the Emory TravelWell Clinic. I had about a half an hour session with a Public Health Officer of the CDC. He walked me through what I needed and did not need for travel to Rajasthan and UP. The regular doc had already done Hep A and I was previously administered Hep B and Tetanus. At the TravelWell Clinic I got Typhoid and Polio vaccines. He strongly felt I did not need Rabies and instead advised me under no circumstances to pet, touch or feed any animal I encounter. I was prescribed Malarone (anti-malarial) to take day of departure and seven days upon return. I was also told to use DEET products and avoid mosquitos, when possible. I feel very confident of this regimen, as it was from a CDC officer at an Emory University clinic (both based here in Atlanta). I did have to pay out of pocket for the travel doc, as they don't even take insurance, but I feel it was worth it. While I was waiting at the clinic, there was a catalog for Travel Medicine. Check it out at travmed.com.

skell

Uh oh. I did nothing. Was up to date on tetanus, only because of a skiing accident last Feb. I touched and fed practically every animal I came in touch with. Carried left overs and sugar cubes with me for just that purpose. Also got a lot of mosquito bites. Survived 7 weeks in India anyway. Will update if I come down with malaria or rabies or typhoid or polio or hepatitus A or B or ....?

Sharonov

Hey, Skell, you were lucky. But going to India doesn't guarantee you'll get sick, just like walking in a bad neighborhood (anywhere in the world) doesn't guarantee you'll get mugged. It's all law of probabilities. Last year we went to Egypt with a few other people. One friend drank tap water, ate street food and never got sick. Another was more careful and spent the last week running to the bathroom. I'm just so sorry that Dukoral isn't available yet in the U.S. and that I didn't know about it until it was too late to order it from Canada.

Peyompian

Wal Mart has needles and syringes. Every drug store in America has em. Most won't sell them to you if you don't have a good reason, though. You DO have a good reason, though. If you're not comfortable with that, any number of internet retailers will sell them.

shere

Bit of a waste going that far. If you think you need a rabies vac why not instead buy a desi home made pistol to shoot rabbid animals dead.

amogasiddhi

I'm going to watch this one kickoff from the sidelines.

So many opinions, so little time to listen to them all, please everyone and forget that I have a choice and my own opinions before I die.

Peyompian

What the hell are you babbling about?

amogasiddhi

asked the Ego to the self.

Please leave me out of this, i'm only an ignorant spectator who knows nothing.