Innoculations for Asia

[iuytrede]

now that this has been moved to "my" section I feel obliged to give some advice even if you avoid doctors.

 

 

 

DT: good idea

 

Hep A+B: good idea

 

Polio: most probably unnecessary, immunity is considered lifelong, a booster most probably won't do much harm though

 

 

 

Cholera: not recommended (low risk of catching the disease for western tourists, the disease can easily been treated, the vaccination has little effect but does have side effects)

 

Typhoid: useful, but not really indispensable

 

 

 

Malaria: there was a thread on it where I said that I personally use doxy (at Thai-Cambo border) (it may get you a sunburn though, and you should take it after meals because of gastrointestinal side effects). Malarone is fine but not cheap. As posted by another poster I would rather question the need to take anti-malarials in China, I have never done it.

 

 

 

Diarrhea: there was a good thread about this too. Basically, the recommended antibiotics are the correct choice IF it is a bacterial infection which is not self-limited (usually not the case). They may mask infection with ameba, which can turn quite serious, so better see a doctor. Lomotil is not recommended, masks the symptoms and doesn't cure anything. You may take it if you have to take a bus for 12 hours to get to a doctor, this will rarely happen.

[iuytrede]

I forgot JE: you most probably don't need it, depends on what you are planning to do there. If it is a tourist trip of a couple of weeks to cities (like Guilin and Nanning) it is not advisable. It is a different story for longtime travel to rural areas. Discuss with your doc.

[gobbledonk]

iuytrede,

 

 

 

Thanks for the advice, although I am now a little confused as you are advising me to consider NOT taking some of the medication I have paid for. My main concern is the 'Orochol' for Cholera - can you give me an idea of the possible side-effects, please ? The manufacturer lists the following 'possibles' :

 

 

 

nausea; vomiting; stomach cramps or rumbling; diarrhea; fever; headache; loss of appetite; generally feeling unwell; irritability

 

 

 

This sounds a lot like the day after a big night out ! One of the other posters mentioned that it may make me more resistant to 'Bali belly' - any thoughts ?

 

 

 

Finally, I should have given you a better idea of where I'll be going and for how long :

 

 

 

Hong Kong - 2 days

 

Nanning - 7 days

 

Guiln - 2 days

 

Yangshuo - 4 days

 

 

 

Primary mode of travel in country will be train, preferably anything but 'Hard Class' seating

 

 

 

 

 

 

[oldian]

I am pretty much the same as you, mostly taking care of myself, avoiding doctors, and being in top notch shape...however, enough travel in the developing world and one eventually runs into things....and it pays to know what is needed, as often the doctors don't....the misdiagnoses of various diarrhoea complaints, even by well trained doctors, is horrendous.....good luck and have fun

[Guest]

a bit of diarria is rarely one of the bad deseases, mostly it just means that your intestines get used to the different bacteria here in asia. most of the time it goes away by itself, no need to fight it and use heavy medizine.

 

there are lots of natural things you can do.

 

firstly, dring locally made youghurt, it contains very helpful bacteria. in case of diarria, eat ripe papaya with a bit of lemon, that cleans your intestines. also, drink eletrolites, easily available in pharmacies, to replace the salts lost during bouts of diaria. if they are not available, a glass of water with one spoon of salt, and three spoons of sugar will do the trick. you will feel stronger almost immedialtly.

 

 

 

you have to give your stomach time to get used to the different bacteria here. nowadays i hardly ever get diarria, i drink any water, eat any kind of food whereever i go. some of the places i have to go occasionally simply do not have clean water available, and dropping iodine in every glass of water offered to me could mean serious insults in some areas. so better to have a good immune system and a stomach used to all the different bacteria.

 

 

 

even if you get some of the bad bugs, there is no need to panic. it is actually not too difficult to see. generally you should go to the doctor for a stool test after three days of constant diarria in a higher risk zone. you can guess yourself already before what you might have caught.

 

bacterial dysentry generally hits you very fast, is often paired with vomiting. the stool is near liquid.

 

amoebic dysentry here in asia is usually not very heavy diaria and can be overlooked easily. there is a lot of mucus in your stool, and, when not treated fast, will come in turns. one week normal, one week diaria. and, when left untreated, can get very dangerous as the bug can infect all your other intestines, like lungs etc.

 

sometimes there might also be blood in your stool.

 

worms can also have blood in your stool.

 

guardia has sulfur smelling stool and burps, very easy to recognise.

 

 

 

generally, westerners have a lot better immune systems than locals as we grew up a lot healthier. once we got used to the local bacteria, we are a lot more resistant than locals.

 

 

 

just don't panic.

[gobbledonk]

Thanks to Oldian and Fly for even more info. Fly, you have definitely have a talent for describing the disposition of human faeces I may have lost my lunch BEFORE I took the Orochol.

 

 

 

OK, at $36, I figured that I had better take the bloody stuff, so I just mixed it up and drank the evil brew. To my surprise, it tasted EXACTLY like 'Enos', a fizzy electrolyte that mum would dispense to her little Aussie battlers whenever she suspected that we were in danger of getting worms, pimples or an erection. OK, I made the last symptom up, but I swear that woman had a contract with the makers of that product and Bex powders...

 

 

 

 

[Guest]

oh, just wait until i describe you the the different stages how human corpses desintegrate over the weeks in this hunid climate here...

 

that will turn you into a vegetarian, or at least you'll start a diet.

[iuytrede]

Orochol: when I was talking about Cholera-vaccination I was more thinking about inoculations as Orochol is not FDA-approved.

 

The side effects of Orochol are not very severe, that's true.

 

The estimated risk of cholera in Western travellers to endemic areas is one or two cases per million trips. So if you are not at a high risk to get cholera (like working in a refugee camp) it is not worth it.

 

Orochol has not been shown to offer protection against regular travellers' diarrhea (enterotoxigenic E. coli-associated diarrhea)

 

 

 

JE: Your itinerary looks like that kind of trip were a vaccination against JE is not necessary. Still depends on what you are going to do there.

[Guest]

Obviously Orochol is not the same oral vaccine as Dukoral then, thats heavily marketed here in Sweden just for the protection it gives against enterotoxines from e-coli bacteria, besides the protection against cholera.

 

If this is the case I can´t see much of a reason to take the Orochol.

[iuytrede]

it's not the same, but both are marketed as effective against ETEC too.

 

The manufacturers seem to try to avoid to market both products in the same country.