vaccines in 2 months

Leah

i have about 2 months till my trip to india...does anyone know exactly what vaccines to get and when to get them? what is absolutly neccesary, and i also was told that to aviod mosquito bites, a couple drops of tea tree oil in each glass of water for the two weeks prior to the trip will ensure nasty tasting skin for the skeeters. any knowledge or varification on that? i am increadibly tasty to mosquitos and very nervous that they will put huge damper on the trip...itching and diareah sounds so aweful

Shaktipalooza

interesting remedy.

first advice would be to make an appointment with travel clinic. the consultation fees are generally quite affordable.

if you are low on cash the generally recommended hep shots can usually be done for a lower cost at metro clinics. it is a multi-part vaccine so the time to get them is probably about now. larium is a low cost medication for malaria but can have really nasty side effects, i've witnessed them first hand and it's not pretty. malarone is way better but very expensive even if you have good insurance.

rabies vaccines, most people don't bother. just don't befriend any sick bats, dogs, monkeys, elephants, rats, etc.

absolutely have a gameplan for dealing with water. either buy bottled or treat it yourself. my all time favorite treatment device is the steripen.

the travel clinic will also write you a cipro prescription for emergency bowel situations.

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ChrisJ

Thats an intersting link Mr Palooza!

I had no idea of this kind of technology!

ChrisJ

edwardseco

That Steripen is one of the cool new techs to come out for water. If you are not unduly sun sensitive Doxycycline is an alternative to Malarone and way cheaper especially in India. No matter what please familiarize yourself with that particule regimine and requirements. Repellants work more or less but never 100% There is little scientific evidence on taking something to ward off mosquitos. For vitamin B it was useless sadly. You could try wearing a garland of garlic around your neck, easily available. Wait, that was for mashers and vampires, I digress. I lathered myself with lemon oil which got me ready to do mud wrestling but didn't do too much more than make me feel so uncomfortable. It turns out freshness is important with that and I forgot to bring my pot of lemon grass plant along. Seriously, if there are no mosquitos at that time and place and someone was trying something they will swear by its effectiveness. The most effective deterrant that I have found (and I have used many including an electric mosquito racket)is something I am embarrassed about. Asked a mechanic to take a can of used motor oil to the nearby small pond..

Norky13

Hello,

I just went to get my vaccinations for my trip to India today, so I though I could help because it is fresh in my mind!

I went to Passport health in upstate NY, but try googling "passport health USA" I think they have offices all over. I would definitely recommend using an office that specializes in travelers health.

I am a grad student majoring in public health, so I opted for some vaccinations that others may not, because we are brainwashed that way I guess. I received Hep A (I already had the Hep B vaccine), a polio booster, typhoid oral pills (instead of the injection- the protection from the oral pills last about 3 years longer than the injection), I also was prescribed Malerone for protection against Malaria. I'm very pale and sensitive to the sun, otherwise I would have gone for the Doxy because it is much cheaper. I also received a prescription for Cipro because the risk of some sort of stomach upset is most likely inevitable. I did not opt for the J.E. vaccine because it was super expensive, and I will not be in rural areas that much.

As for the tea thing, I would be cautious about that, I wouldn't try it, but that's me.

Hope this helps!

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Dr Kat

My two pence worth -

1 - consult a travel clinic! Even doctors do this - cos we don't have the latest updates and tend not to see the wood for the trees when it comes to our own meds.

2 - Make sure all your normal vaccines are up to date (in this I include the polio booster - which we get around 14 years old here in the UK).

3 - I had a Hep B booster - as I had my Hep B initially over 5 years ago at the start of med school. Doubt you'll have hep B if you don't work in a health related area.

4 - I would say definitely go for Hep A - well worth while. The injectable form of typhoid lasts a year - but then you can get a booster which makes it updated for 10 years. We don't do the tablets here in the uk as far as I'm aware.

5 - As was said - rabies is for animal handlers.

6 - Jap B enceph vaccine has nasty side effects.

Oh - and for most of India the predominent form of malaria is vivax - and chloroquine and proguanil should be fine for this. Unless you're going near bangladesh - they have Falciparum - beware.

Nick-H

That sterapen looks fun. In my days of employment and only spending two weeks a year in India I'd have been on-line ordering one straight away!

Now I'd say that that mush money will buy a lot of bottled water...

UV light treatment is not new, the bottled water you buy in India will have been treated by (apart from filtration) either or both of UV treatment or reverse osmosis. Packing it in a hand-held is new: Yep, a great-looking gadget!

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