I'm going on Asian Adventure in Jan 2010. What vaccinations are people getting? I would love to hear from people who have already been on the tour or to southeast asia.

I'm for sure going to get malaria pills. Trying to decide about the others. Japanese Encephilitis is recommended for May thru October, the rainy season. I'm going to be going during the dry season in Jan.

SHould I still get it?


Thanks

Kelly

Kelly.
I went to a place called Passport Health (in Mequon).
They are certified in travel advice, vaccinations, CDC recs, etc. I was recommended that place through a friend that does lots of international travel.
for our trip, we are supposed to have:
Hep A, Hep B, polio, Typhoid, anti-malarial, tetanus, MMR.

the jap encephilitis is not needed for our trip because of the time that we are going.

@ Passport health they can also sell you anti-malarial kits which are nice/handy...include spray with DEET, the premiterin (spelling?) spray for clothing, anti-itch/sting cream, etc. its a nice all-in-one pack.

They also recommend getting a script for cipro in case you get diarrhea.

I already had some of the vax, so I only needed typhoid, hep A, and polio. (plus i got the mosquito pack thing)...all that together cost me like $300....the price tag hurt a bit but it's hassle free and reliable.

Where is Mequon?

Thanks for the advice!

Kelly

Most travel clinics will encourage you to get lots of vaccinations as this is a way they raise revenue.

The jungles of S.E. Asia aren't that ferocious that you need to have that many vaccinations unless you want to be extremely cautius or are a little paraniod.
You can check this Australian site out:
http://www.travelclinic.com.au...fo.asp?CountryID=220

I've travelled through lots of remote parts of Peninsular Malaysia-Taman Negara national park and all throughout most SEA which is officially in a malarial zone but have never used those tablets as they have lots of side effects.People who live in those areas do not actually use those tablets either as they can be really expensive. Malarone is extremely unaffordable to locals of that region.

Just utilising mosquito repellent in daytime, a lit mosquito coil at night and boiling the water for purification ( Typhoid fever prevention) is more than adequate.

Also for food poisoning prevention its best to build your immunity prior about 3 weeks via increased consumption of benefical probiotics like yogurt or yakult.Avoid cold food and only consume hot food which has just been prepared.

Hi Kelly,
I went and got all my vaccination yesterday.
I'm a nurse and for work we have all our hep A,B,C shots. So yesterday I got Typhiod ($130) a Hep B boaster and MMR(both free) ( Measels Mumps, Rubella). The maleria has a lot off uncomfortable side effects and isn't necassary. Just remember tropical strenght repleants .
Cholera is also a good 1 to take before you go. I reccommended going in 2 weeks before you go. It is 2 drinks that you have 1 week apart. It helps against all the nasty tummy bugs.
Hope that helps you
Kitty

Hi, I was planning on having colera medicine stuff, hep A, polio and typhoid. I have had all the other recommended ones except the Japanese one which the doc said wasnt really important and rabies, which is only important if u are planning on working with animals apparently.
I am unsure about the malaria pills though. obviously i dont want to get malaria but i also dont want to feel awful the whole trip. I think i should take them because in Australia the mossies love me, i get so many bites, so its probably likely i will get lots of bites in asia even with deet and long clothes at night.what is the risk of malaria if u get bites anyway?

Patchie,Even if you use Malaria pills its not 100% full protection against malaria.

There is actually a real high chance that you will get some or all of the side effects.

I was in South America recently and there were quite a lot of my fellow travellers who were using Malarone and they came down with all sorts of side effects ranging from mild to severe till the point that they could not move. Once they stopped taking them they were fine.

Realistically serious malaria infection is very rare, millions of people live in SEA and constanly get mosquito bites.It happens so frequently that people actually get kind of desensitized to it. Like flies in an Australian summer.Once in a while there are outbreaks but with modern medicines its easily cured.

You have to be extremely unlucky to get malarial sickness on any trip to SEA.

If you're paranoid about stings at night wear long trousers and sleeves but the colour has to be light. SE Asian mosquitoes get attracted to dark colours.Also avoid scratching as it increases the real risk of infection. If you can find some benovate ointment (mild steriod based) or Tiger balm ointment from a pharmacy over there apply that to reduce itchyness.

The only vaccinations I have got is typhoid and hep a. That's all I'm going to get. I'm going to bring some super strong DEET and wear the right kind of clothes (light colors, long sleeves/pants at night).

Honestly I can't afford to get anything else! Plust I've read up on it a lot and we're going during the dry/cool season which has the least risk to get malaria.

KElly

Realistically most travellers through SEA will NOT have any encounters with any of these tropcial diseases, fevers.

The main thing of concern is actually food poisoning which will almost certainly affect new travellers to that region.

Tropical humidity tends to spoil the food really fast so just consume food that has just been cooked fresh.

Also lots of the food is usually seafood and people really like to consume lots of shellfish-i.e mussels, clams, mantis prawns.Although these are extremely tasty its best to avoid them initially or eat small quantities to see if the food agrees with you.

The sauces which usually accompany seafood like belacan,nuc maan( made of a dried shrimp paste is usually prepared in semi-clean water-Its the SEA version of ketchup). Local people have the immunity but travellers are almost 100% guaranteed to have serious stomach problems.New travellers just have to consume in moderation that's all.

If it does happen its still not a major problem provided you have some cipro which will cure all bacterial infections almost immediately.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ciprofloxacin

When I did the Vietnam tour in April I got an injection which covered one of the heps and typhoid. For malaria I took malarone.

I'll never go on malarone again, it made me feel like crap during the trip and I stopped taking it before I was supposed to so I could go back to feeling normal. Apparently the side effects of doxycycline are even worse than malarone. As some people have already mentioned, wearing good repellent should do the trick.

Chris, I've seen people suffering the side effects of Malarone and its not a pretty sight. They looked like they were going to keel over and drop dead. Aparently the effects are even amplified for people who have low immunity ,light and sun sensitive.

off to see travel doctor wednesday about what I need.
igot my hep a,b and typhoid from the time i WENT ON MY first ever South Pacific Cruise to New Caledonia and Vanuatu.
Flu Shot/Swine Flu Shot I can go to doctor for that one
as for anything else not sure what is necessary and what not to waate money on