Innoculations for Asia

[gobbledonk]

Guys,

 

 

 

I know I should have done this 6 weeks prior to departure for China, instead of one week , but here goes.

 

 

 

When I went to Thailand, the 'Travel Doctor' here in BNE gave me just TWO needles : ADT (diptheria/tetatnus) and Hep A. Just another reason to put Thailand on the top of ones itinerary

 

 

 

I just checked the web, and it seems that I will need the following for travel to China :

 

 

 

Hep A and Hep B

 

Japanese Encephalitis (transmission period extends into ctober, and Guanxi is one of the 'hotspots' for it).

 

Polio - incredible, but it seems that I need a one-time booster ...

 

 

 

Other possibles include cholera and typhoid. Other than having an arm like a pin-cushion, I can deal with this. My two main concerns are :

 

 

 

1. By not getting these jabs 5 weeks ago, getting them now will prove useless.

 

2. I may have missed something.

 

 

 

One of the guys from work had to organise his vaccinations for HK with only 3 days notice, but Im sure that HK doesnt represent quite the same risk as China itself.

 

 

 

I believe that I have a cast-iron stomach, but contracting something like Polio (Jesus H Christ !) would put a real dampener on my holiday.

 

 

 

I know that most of you arent GP's, but I welcome any and all feedback from the intrepid Asian travellers amongst us. If it helps, I am 43, in good health, no known problems and I will be visiting Nanning, Guilin and Yangshuo during the October National holidays, when people come from every province to stare at the Gwailo in Guilin. Let's give them a healthy specimen to make their trip worthwhile

 

 

[gobbledonk]

My doctor has just given me a prescription for vaccination drugs covering:

 

 

 

Hep A/B (some sort of dual dose superdrug.. I expect to grow boobies)

 

Cholera (think happy thoughts Artie, happy thoughts, happy ..)

 

Malaria pills(I dont know how necessary that is, but why not)

 

Anti-Diarrhea pills

 

 

 

He doesnt seem too phased regarding my imminent departure, so I'll just hope for the best. He actually cautions AGAINST being vaccinated for Japanese Encephalitis : apparently, it can lead to its own set of health problems. The guide that I read suggested that short-term travellers are at low risk of contracting it.

 

 

 

Reading the descriptions of the various diseases still prevalent in certain parts of the world (bubonic plague is straight out of the Dark Ages) is a real eye-opener. We take so much for granted here in Farangland ...

 

 

 

 

[Guest]

Having spent over 30 years in Asia, I've come across most things to make one ill.

 

 

 

MOST prevelent in my experience has been;

 

 

 

Hep A & B......your Doctor has probably given you Twinex(ps?) no doubt the best new travelers med ever made. Get at it, even if you don't finish the series before you go, it will serve you for many years.

 

 

 

Cholera; never hurts to have it updated. (If the is an outbreak where you are, you may not be able to travel onward without certification)

 

 

 

Same with the Polio shot.

 

 

 

I agree to skip the Japanese Encephalitis.

 

 

 

The malarial system is still a great contoversy. As there are so many varieties of malaria iin Asia (27+) any anti-malarial could mask symtoms and prevent early recognition and therefore the appropriate treatment. Many also have adverse reactions to some of these drugs. As you are travelling near the end of the malarial season I would urge restraint here. Or perhaps the old UN standby.... low doses of Tetramycin to ward off any serious illness, but not mask the malarial symtoms.

 

 

 

Don't forget to get these items put into your Yellow Book....(international book of vaccinations) should outbreaks occur this is the only documentaion most agencies will accept.

 

 

 

Have a grand trip and please post reports when you return.

[gobbledonk]

Thanks, LaoHuLi : its great to have a 'second opinion' from someone who has actually been there and done it.

 

 

 

My GP is very competent, but I was a little unnerved by his recounting a particularly virulent attack of 'Bali belly' he had whilst travelling thru India. Sure, it can happen to anyone, doctor or no doctor, but he IS an Indian !

 

 

 

I suspect that Western civilisation makes us resilient to some bugs (influenza devastated entire civilisations when the Spanish introduced it to the Americas) whilst leaving us ill-prepared for the nasties which assail our digestive tracts in Asia. My trip to Thailand saw me taking every precaution on that first day, only to catch myself brushing my teeth with the tap water in the hotel that night ..... I was also sorely tempted by the smell of the food at the street stalls, but managed to resist the temptation. I look forward to posting a long report following my trip, and I hope it wont contain any references to Chinese Medical Facilities

[Guest]

Just some quickies.

 

 

 

Both typhoid and cholera vaccines should be available in oral forms, so no needles there. At least the cholera vaccine is supposed to partly protect you from the balibelly, so maybe not a dumb idea.

 

 

 

The jap. B. enchefalitis, even if rare, is a very nasty disease, high mortality rate and often even if you come out of it alive you´ll disabled rest of your life. Polio, well I guess no need to say it´s a nasty one too.

 

 

 

Your doc. knows how much he can speed up the vaccination scheme, and what to give you at each time so don´t worry about that.

 

 

 

Good luck !

[Guest]

Oops, should have read the whole thread. Sorry for the pieces of advice you didn´t need.

 

 

 

Lauri

[oldian]

I spent 6 months on a bicycle in the wildest wilds of China, plus have spent much of the past 10 years on the open roads of Asia, so I will share some tidbits I've gleaned....if you have any major questions, check out the CDC (Center for Disease Control) website (do a search on Google and you will find them)...they are pretty up to date......

 

For a short term visit, Japanese Encephalitis I wouldn't be overly worried about....when it happens, it tends to happen in outbreaks, and from what various experts have told me, those who have grown up with western medicine, healthy diets, et. al, tend to have stronger immune systems when it comes to fighting it..........

 

The big two are HepA and typhoid, as these are diseases you can get from shit to hand to mouth, easy enough to do anywhere.....if you don't have time for all the HepA Havrix shots, you can get a gamma globulin shot which will serve short term...........typhoid you can now get in oral capsules, which are good for seven years.....

 

Malaria is a tough question...for short term visits, depending on the season, I wouldn't take a prophylatic, but would carry Malarone or doxycycline as a precaution. The anopheles mosquitoes that carry malaria are much larger than regular mosquitoes and pretty easy to spot, and if you follow precautions at dusk and dawn, wear repellent, use coils, you should be fine.

 

You might check out the area you are going to in terms of meningoccocal meningitis....

 

If you have never had a polio booster, it is advisable.

 

Finally, most importantly, chances are that you won't get any of these nasties, but you will get diarrhoea, either bacterial or amoebic.........pick up a course of Norofloxacin, or if it is unavailable, Ciprofloxacin. If you come down with sudden diarrhoea, chances are high that it is bacterial. Norofloxacin is taken well, no side effects, and you will be eating and on your feet again within 24 hours.....amoebic infections are a bit more serious....the usual remedy is metronidazole or tinidazole (Flagyl or Tiniba), one week course........hope this is of help..bon voyage

[gobbledonk]

Wow, Oldian - you are a regular pharmacist !

 

 

 

I do recognise some of the names of the various drugs from the script that my pharmacist is filling for me at the moment, but I usually avoid doctors and chemists as much as possible. One of my co-workers said to me the other day : 'How come you never get sick ?' (she suffers from migraine). It freaked me out when I realised that, other than the occasional head cold, I simply do not get sick (sick of work, but thats universal !). I heard some new-age type on the radio saying that a positive attitude and a healthy immune system support (and rely upon) one another : I'm not always particularly 'chirpy', so lets hope my good fortune holds out

 

 

 

Thanks for the tips, guys - I shall copy and paste each of the posts and take the text with me to China.

 

 

[Guest]

Hello Lads,

 

 

 

I think this one would be better in Health.

[gobbledonk]

For anyone who is interested in exactly what I got for each, and what it cost me in Australian dollars ($1.00 =~ US0.54c ):

 

 

 

Malaria - Doxylin 100 (Doxycycline) - 35 tablets = $28.00

 

Diarrhea - 2 Lomotil tablets = $12

 

Hep A + B - TwinRix injection = $60

 

Cholera - Orochol oral vaccine = $36

 

 

 

Depending on where you live, there prices probably seem either wildly-inflated or quite reasonable : whatever the case, I consider it a relatively cheap price to pay when one considers the alternatives ....