Travel Blog – Injections and Malaria Tablets
Jabs
The dreaded injections!
One massive thing that many people forget about is the timely and COSTLY process of injections and malaria tablets! Some countries don’t even let you cross the border without a certificate for certain ones, such as for Yellow Fever. So it something you must check and get before you go!
Sooooo, how do you go about finding out what you need..?
Well the easiest thing to do, is to give your Doctor’s surgery a call. They will either ask you to list your destinations over the phone or to come in and fill a ‘Travel’ form out. They will then ask you to call back in a couple of days to find out what you need and to book an appointment.
So Fiona, Charlie and I did all this and we all pretty much came back with a similar list. As we are travelling to the following places: India, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Borneo, Australia, NZ and Fiji, we were told we would need the following….
Hep A and Typhoid.
You may also need Polio, TB and Tetanus, if you missed them at school. Fi “bunked” those days off and manage to get told off 10years later! The nurse lectured her on responsibility and consequences!
However the bonus of all of the above is that they are FREE!!!! So you don’t have to worry about cutting back on the leaving drinks, or subjecting your parents to emotional blackmail by saying that you will die without them!!
The next few jabs are optional and they do COST! It is really worth considering whether money is the only reason for not having them. If the risk is high then maybe your health should come first.
The first one is Rabies: if dogs or little children tend to have a bad reaction to you, resulting in a bite, this is a must! However Rabies itself only buys you an extra 48hours, it doesn’t actually protect you against Rabies. Therefore if there is a possibility you have contracted Rabies you still must get to a hospital within 48Hours.
Without the jab, you could have under a day. Therefore definitely get this jab if you are going trekking or going of the beaten track. But if you are staying within an hour of a hospital, you may be fine without.
Rabies costs around £60. We opted against it, based on the fact we were largely staying in cities!
The second possible jab you may opt for is Hep B. Hep B is advisable if you are planning to have unprotected sex with high risk individuals such as ‘sex workers’ or you are likely to cut yourself on an infected item such as a needle. However with Hep B you have to have 3 Jabs, one at 0 months, the second at 1 month and the third within 6 months. So if you are planning on having this you need to decide in advance. It also can cost up to £210 depending on where you go to have it done!
After an half-an-hour patronising lecture on the risk of having unprotected sex, we all decided against it – But blokes if you are opting for a ‘ping-pong’ show in Thailand – definitely get this!
The next possible jab is Japanese Encephalitis. This one is expensive, costing between £160 – £200! You also need either three or two dosages, spread over a four weeks – so you got to plan this one in advance! You will need this one if you are going to areas such as Vietnam and Borneo in the rainy season, or spending time in the paddy/ rice fields.
Jap Encephalitis is transferred via mosquitoes and there is no cure and if caught it can kill you! On the Brightside it is extremely rare, so if you don’t get the jab avoid the rice fields and take extra precaution, like mosquito net, mosquito room burners and also good mosquito repellent – preferably high in deet!
I decided against the Jab, I spoke to two nurses and they thought as I was going to Vietnam in March it probably wasn’t necessary. Fiona did get it, and found the jab slightly traumatic. She suffered from some side effects including feeling shivery and stomach pains, apparently such side effects affect 1 in 10 that get the jab!
Malaria Tablets
These are essential. Do not avoid getting them! Malaria is common and deadly! However all the tablets do have their side effects from vivid dreams to suicidal thoughts!
So what tablets do you go for….
Well if you are feeling rich and posh, you can go for Maralone, this tends to cost around the £100 marks for a few months prescription.
We opted for Doxycycline, which is considerably cheaper. A prescription for 4 months was only £22! However it does have its side-effects such as making your skin more sensitive to the sun. When I took them when I went to Africa, I burnt in the most random place – the side of my fingers!!!!
Also word of advice – NEVER take them before you lie down or on an empty stomach they give you the worse heartburn ever!
Some people may also say one advantage of Doxycycline is that it is the treatment for Chlamydia !!!!!
These two are the most common tablets taken, there are other even cheaper ones available but some you are not allowed to take if you are prone to depression, as they make you suicidal and if you are not prone to depression they will give you depression!
You need to start thinking about Malaria tablet about 2 months before you go, as some tablets you have to start taking before you leave. For Doxycycline, you have to start the week before you leave and have to carry on taking them for 4 weeks after you get back!!!!
So that is jabs and malaria tablets in a nutshell! If anyone got any more advice or info please add it to the comments below!
Popularity: unranked [?]
March 12th, 2010 at 1:39 pm
Have just come back from a tremendous holiday to Bangkok, stayed at Rocky Beach in the northwest part which is less hetic than southern areas, great resort and good beaches near Bangkok like at Koh Larn. We rented a big motorbike for only 450 baht per day and would drive around the whole region. So many great places to eat, our preferred restaurant was Sweet n Spicy which had the most tremendous view over the beach, the staff was really nice and the food so yummy, we went for sunset drinks. My girlfriend and I had a brilliant time in Bangkok City and will be back for Christmas.
March 14th, 2010 at 8:06 am
You know, I gotta tell you, I genuinely enjoy this webpage and the informative insight. I find it to be refreshful and very enlightening. I wish there were more blogs like it. Anyway, I finally decided to write a comment on Travel Blog – Injections and Malaria Tablets | UniTown – I just wanna say that you did a awesome job on this. Cheers dude!