Vaccine(s)

Visited a travel clinic today. Stuff's pretty expensive. I figure I'd outline everything I do/ need to do for this trip (what i bring, what i buy, where i stay/go etc), so it can double as a way for me to remember everything i did and if any of you eventually travel, maybe give you a heads up on what to look out for etc.

So, I have been perscribed...

Dukoral (some oral medication for traveler's diarrhea. lol. supposedly its only 60% effective, which makes me wonder if i should take it. But its oral, and there aren't many substitutes for it.

Diamox high altitude sickness medication. I got prescribed this, but i might pass on it. I've been to 3000m for an afternoon and didn't feel any different, so I'm not too worried- but some others (Caitlin) swear by it. I think i'll ask some of my relatives to see if they have had trouble, and if none of them ever had, i'll just figure its genetic and that i'll be fine.

JE Vac (3 stages) for Japanese Encephalitis. Thanks, Kenta. I was originally under the impression that I'd narrowly miss the main seasons of JE through my trip except for in India, but I ended up needing it. Only issue is that it comes in 3 shots, and I can only schedule to have 2 of them done in Toronto.

Lots of Insect Repellant- Dengue Fever. Evidently Dengue Fever is a pretty big deal, there is no vaccine for it so you just need to wear long clothes, insect repellent etc. Also, unlike Malaria which strikes during morning/ evenings it happens during the day.

A "Do Not Swim In Freshwater" order from my doctor. Salt water or chlorinated pools, only. Evidently there are some snails that'll migrate to your liver or bladder and produce eggs in there for like 15 years. jesus christ.

Rabies. Evidently there's a serious shortage of Rabies vaccine, so they treat it but dont give out the vaccine itself. But I had read up on it from before (FAQ listed earlier from 4HWW) and it basically said if you get bit by anything, wash up your arm as well as possible and head to a consulate of USA/ Canada/ UK/ Switzerland asap.

Malaria. I got perscribed 85 pills of Maladrone. So I guess the deal is there are $1 pills that have side effects that include high anxiety, going crazy etc. or maladrone which is $6/pill but has less side effects. Given my history of anxiety and general distaste for medications with side effects in general- I'm going with the Maladrone. I gotta take them every day, starting the day before I enter a malaria site, and for 1 week after. Also, if I get a fever within 1 year of being in a Malaria infected area, I need to see a doctor asap and tell them I have been in one.

Yellow Fever vaccine. Matt "why would you take a vaccine for that". It gives you a really weak form of the disease, which can either make you go crazy for asian girls or make you sick and in rare cases (ie. allergies to eggs (?!?) or over 65 years old etc) can be fatal. There is a relatively high risk of getting a fever, so I'm going to wait until after my camping trip.

Tick borne encephalitis. Evidently it exists in Switzerland, but I passed on this because I worked on a farm there for 1 month and never even heard of this stuff. That, and the fact that I'll probably keep things low key if/when I reach the land of chocolate and cheese.

At this point in time, the lady who was telling me this stuff was going a bit over the top. I mean, malaria, yellow fever, some japanese thing- okay lets be careful. Wash all vegetables, use bottled water for everything, even brushing teeth- okay sure, i got it. But then she starts telling me about getting food poisoning in new zealand, or try to avoiding diahrea. And now I have been perscribed 1 medication that reduces the risk of diahhrea only marginally, and then 2 other meds. for when I inevitably get it anyways. With regards to the food poisoning, give me a break - i'm travelling for a year, things happen and I don't want to think about/ worry about some bacterial toxins when i'm eating a delicious piece of swordfish 5,000 miles away from here.