Vaccinations & Malaria Tablets |
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| | #1 |
| Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: UK
Posts: 31
| Vaccinations & Malaria Tablets Travelling around India in January, handed my form into the doctors so they can recommend vaccinations and they've came back with Hep A, Typhoid and a dose of Malaria tablets. I had been told that January was not Malaria season so wouldn't need Malaria tablets but I think they may be recommending them because I indicated on the form that I would be sleeping rough but this is only for one night on a camel trek near Jaisalmer. Do you think I can avoid the Malaria tablets? |
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| | #2 |
| What happened? Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Goa/?
Posts: 2,228
| Hep A and malaria, yes. Don't think typhoid. Upadate tetanus and get a polio booster. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
__________________ GoanGoan......here & there |
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| | #3 |
| Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: New York
Posts: 31
| Not much malaria out in the desert, so I don't think the camel safari is your biggest risk. And, Jan is low season for malaria. But, there is always a risk in India, so you are taking some chances. How you mitigate that (insect repellent, nets, long clothing, pills) is a personal decision. I suggest you read some on the side-effects of whatever medicine they are suggesting you take. |
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| | #4 |
| This is just a cameo appearance Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Chennai, India
Posts: 38,192
| ...That's only one night. |
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| | #5 |
| Member Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Norwich
Posts: 54
| I personally would rather take the malaria tablets then risk getting ill and ruining my travels I have been recommended the 'paludrine travel pack' which is working out at about £30 for my 3 month trip - which isn't too bad, even on my tight budget, and not a high price to pay for peace of mind.If you aren't sure, a lot of pharmacists know their stuff, or you could have a consultation at a travel clinic. Seek some other opinions and see what the general consensus seems to be. |
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| | #6 |
| Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: London
Posts: 109
| Sleeping "rough" for o n e night in the desert? I think you are not getting good advice. It will be freezing cold - so no mosquitos. It is a low risk area and season anyway. I have stopped taking malaria medication long ago because of the considerable side effects which really made me feel miserable. In any case there is also a so called stand by medication which one can take once symptoms develop - in this particular case I wouldn't even bother to take this along. |
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| | #7 | |
| Professional cynic Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: जोर बाग़,New Delhi
Posts: 431
| Quote:
Should your travels take you to the east(west-Bengal, Assam) you absolutely need to take something, I feel. You should know that by deciding to take nothing, you assume a small but potentially serious risk and that risk is yours, no one here will suffer or lose sleep if you're that 1 unlucky guy who catches malaria. For the other stuff: you went to a dr, don't expect to get better advice on a travel forum. Get the vaccines.
__________________ When the wise man points out the black hole, the fool looks at the finger. | |
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| | #8 |
| Member Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Belfast
Posts: 10
| I had my vaccinations in August for my trip in September and I'm going back again in December. Would I need to get the vacinations again or do they last for a while |
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| | #9 |
| brother my cup is empty member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: yörp
Posts: 14,807
| Most will last for some time; some only shorter though, and all for different durations, and anyway why not ask your doc about it, preferably the same peeps who gave you the shots.
__________________ Reading tips, all picked up at IndiaMike : INDAX's A Comprehensive Guide To India / Dinoj Surendran's Desi Humor / ITHVC on Culture Shock & Travel Health / JetLag Travel Guides For the Undiscerning Traveller / India Travel Links |
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| | #10 |
| a pain in the asana Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: the India inside my heart
Posts: 6,734
| immunities last for years. and an FYI for typhoid vaccines: the immunity from oral typhoid vaccine lasts 5 years; the typhoid shot lasts about 2-3 years. this is according to my doctor who I saw yesterday about my travel meds.
__________________ MY INDIA, 2005-2010 "Once you have felt the Indian dust, you will never be free of it." (Rumer Godden, 1975) |
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| | #11 |
| This is just a cameo appearance Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Chennai, India
Posts: 38,192
| They last for years, in some instances, only of one gets the correct course of vaccinations. For some of them, one is not enough. Madzo, you should have been given guidance by who-ever gave you the jabs --- but (non-professional opinion) I do not believe that a couple of months is going to make any difference at all. Interesting to know about the oral typhoid: one less hole in the arm, and it lasts longer! ![]() |
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| | #12 | |
| a pain in the asana Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: the India inside my heart
Posts: 6,734
| Quote:
of course if someone gets the right course. when someone goes to a dr. for the shots the dr. will say "come back in X months for a booster" or whatever. Hep A needs a 2nd shot about 6 months (or so) later. but ONE shot does last for years just as I said -- I need yellow fever for Africa and the immunity from one shot lasts about 10 years. | |
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| | #13 |
| This is just a cameo appearance Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Chennai, India
Posts: 38,192
| we may be at cross purposes. One-shot inoculations last for years, but an incomplete course of however many shots does not, or, at least, cannot be guaranteed to. I've had two or three incomplete courses ![]() |
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| | #14 |
| brother my cup is empty member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: yörp
Posts: 14,807
| But "years" is rather vague, isn't it, and it would depend every bit on what shot. While I'd tend to agree Madzo should be safe, all it would take is a logical phone call to their doc/travel clinic. Who can then confirm the same, or tell them otherwise. You ought to have been given a booklet with your previous shots detailing your vaccination history, and will otherwise likely be in their database. So they can just look it up. (Note to others: less likely so if you've had them say over a decade ago and before widespread computerization where you live, in which case they'll likely just start you up again if you didn't keep those data. You'd probably be due for new courses anyway.) In this case, they'll probably tell you you're fine as it is, indeed. But at least you'll have asked. |
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| | #15 | |
| Maha Guru Member Join Date: May 2003 Location: Northern California
Posts: 4,367
| Quote:
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__________________ The map is not the territory. --Alfred Korzybski | |
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I have been recommended the 'paludrine travel pack' which is working out at about £30 for my 3 month trip - which isn't too bad, even on my tight budget, and not a high price to pay for peace of mind.
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