Vaccines, Travel Clinics, Basic First Aid and Notes!
The travel books, internet sites, and the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) site basically say the same thing about the types of vaccines needed to travel to this region.
In addition to this long list of things, I didn’t realize that adults had a list of “Routine” Vaccines. It makes sense, but frankly, I have not gotten any vaccines since I was a child. Except the random flu shot and most of the time, I did not get one. I guess I have been lucky!
- http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/schedules/easy-to-read/adult.html
- http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/schedules/downloads/adult/adult-schedule-easy-read.pdf
Listed below is the CDC link for the suggested vaccines for your travel destination:
http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/destinations/list/
- In dropdown select a country -> Select “what kind of traveler you are” -> Click “go”
- The web site lay out is great:
- All Travelers
- Some Travelers
- Extended Stay/Study Abroad
Here is a consolidated list of items I needed and a couple of travel notes for me in the future!
- Tdap – Tetanus, Diphtheria, and Pertussis
- Every 10 years
- Polio – Adult booster – not sure if these are really boosters or an updated shot
- MMR (Mumps, Measles, Rubella) – Adult booster – not sure if these are really boosters or an updated shot
- Hepatitis A (I got the 1st dose only)
- 2 doses – 6 months apart
- Hepatitis B
- Typhoid
- Pills – Take at least 1 weeks before leaving
- Malaria medication only if visiting the jungle areas of these countries
- There is a bunch of different one, the suggestion is to as for the one that you can potentially buy overseas – 9 mo of pill is a lot and they are very expensive.
- Japanese Encephalitis vaccine (I got the 1st dose only)
- Can only get a specialized Travel Clinic
- 2 doses – 28 days apart
- Rabies vaccination – (I did not get because I did not enough time to get the other doses)
- Can only get at specialized Travel Clinic
- 3 doses – 28 days apart
- Influenza (Flu Shot)
Ask for prescription (if needed/suggested)
- Motion sickness patch
- Diarrhea
How do I find travel clinics?
- Type in “Travel Clinics near me” in Google
- Just in case I am overseas and need to find a travel clinic:
- http://www.istm.org/AF_CstmClinicDirectory.asp
- Do not add too much info – otherwise – you will get “no records returned”
What would I do differently next time?
- I did a little bit of reading, which is good, but I would talk to a travel clinic specialist first – even if you have to pay for one. You will get the information that you need faster and you can ask a bunch of questions like:
- Does it make sense to take this vaccine if I will not be here to take the 2nd shot?
- They will talk you thru the basics – I guess it depends on who you get.
- You will need to go to a specialized travel clinic anyways to get the specialized vaccines.
- There is a ton of info being thrown at you – so even if you just look at the CDC site, make a list of questions about what you think you need, it will help you retain the other information later. Thus this travel blog w/ notes – I will never remember all of this stuff.
- Traveling at the last minute, I don’t have the leisure of waiting for an appointment opening. I didn’t realize that there is a travel clinic in the same doctor’s office as my other appointments until after I already paid for my vaccines – some of it maybe covered, others not, but now I have to deal w/ the paper work if I want to be re-reimbursed.
- The nice thing about the non-insurance travel clinics is that it really is a one stop shop – they have almost everything you need for traveling from vaccines, bug sprays, anti-diarrhea kits, US Embassy/Consulate information etc. My travel consultant was great – you can ask her all of those girl types of questions as well. She worked overseas and grew up in Southeast Asia – so the other info. like what type of malaria pills I can get over there easily, was helpful!
- Ask family/friends/co-workers – I know a lot of people who grew up in other countries and travel a lot – they tell me the same thing – medicine is cheaper overseas. Some people have gotten these vaccines, others have not. Mosquitos love me! I can be in a car w/ a dozen other people and I would be the only one w/ more than a dozen mosquito bites. You think each mosquito would take one person and share, but no – They love me! I will be in countries where mosquitos carry every disease possible.
Other Notes:
- Rabies:
- Wash for 15 min and get to hospital within a major city within 3 days.
- Rabies is 99.999% deadly
- Most common animals: bats, dogs, (I don’t think they have raccoons in Southeast asia) etc.
- http://www.cdc.gov/rabies/medical_care/index.html
- How to remove water leaches – basically let the tick fall off when it is done eating (if you are not going to lose a lot of blood)
- How to treat snake bits -> basically call for help -> keep body part below the heart and do not do anything (remove anything that may constrict the site)
- How to remove ticks -> basically remove by pulling strait do not let the mouth get stuck in your skin
- Dengues fever -> basically lasts for ~ 1 week, take Acetaminophen/Tylenol (good branding!), and make sure you are hydrated
- Chiungunya Virus -> basically lasts for ~ 1 week, take Acetaminophen/Tylenol (good branding!), and make sure you are hydrated
- If you get diarrhea (I have never tried this – so I will let you know if it works):
- Some type of Probiotic/DiaResQ – Amazon
- Drink electrolyte solution
- After 2 bowl movement – then take over the counter anti-diarrhea medication
- If fever – then take prescription anti-diarrhea pill
- Other info on diarrhea:
- http://www.healthline.com/health/digestive-health/most-effective-diarrhea-remedies#4
A couple of observations:
- Medical knowledge gets outdated.
- The last time I looked up snake bites, the idea was to constrict the area, cut the bite, suck out the venom. Basically DO NOT DO any of these things.
- CPR has changed
- Remove ticks have changed – before we use to burn them off – I know this was a long time ago
- I never noticed this, but WebMD and other web sites have too many words and no pictures. If I am in an emergency situation, I don’t have time to read the fine print. Quick tangent: I agree w/ Vasily – the US uses too many words on traffic signs – who has time to read that when you are driving 65 mph on the freeway! We need to make info. more easily digestible. I agree w/ Reed – videos are great, but who has time to watch them for 1 piece of information.