Barbados, health certificates, Spanish Rias Rock!

nickrj

nickrj

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www.bigoceans.com
Sorry for my multi-topic post.

Firstly, can anyone tell me if I need any health certificates for arrival into Barbados. I had the usual shots when I was a kid, but someone told me I need special certificates or something, and I have nothing. I think if I need to get something, Lisbon, which is next up is probably the best place to get myself sorted. Any thoughts?

As an aside, I just came through the Spanish Rias. Boy, they're fantastic! A lot of people bypass them direct to Baiona... I have no idea why. Anyway, thanks!

nick
 
Re health certificates - we are pretty civilised here in Barbados, and you will be fine with whatever you had as a kid.

Various countries in South America though require you to have a veritable barrage of shots, as well as anti malaria formulations.
 
Ok, but do I need some kind of proof? Ie. do I need to get my family GP back home to send through documents, or can I just show up with my passport and be done? nick
 
Hi Nick - just read your Big Oceans blog, well done so far /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

As to your question regarding 'Flag Q', I have lifted the following from an American web-site:

http://wwwn.cdc.gov/travel/destinationBarbados.aspx

Preparing for Your Trip to Barbados

Before visiting Barbados, you may need to get the following vaccinations and medications for vaccine-preventable diseases and other diseases you might be at risk for at your destination: (Note: Your doctor or health-care provider will determine what you will need, depending on factors such as your health and immunization history, areas of the country you will be visiting, and planned activities.)

To have the most benefit, see a health-care provider at least 4–6 weeks before your trip to allow time for your vaccines to take effect.

Even if you have less than 4 weeks before you leave, you should still see a health-care provider for needed vaccines and other medications and information about how to protect yourself from illness and injury while traveling.

CDC recommends that you see a health-care provider who specializes in Travel Medicine. Find a travel medicine clinic near you. If you have a medical condition, you should also share your travel plans with any doctors you are currently seeing for other medical reasons.

If your travel plans will take you to more than one country during a single trip, be sure to let your health-care provider know so that you can receive the appropriate vaccinations and information for all of your destinations. Long-term travelers, such as those who plan to work or study abroad, may also need additional vaccinations as required by their employer or school.

Although yellow fever is not a disease risk in Barbados, the government requires travelers arriving from countries where yellow fever is present to present proof of yellow fever vaccination. If you will be traveling to one of these countries where yellow fever is present before arriving in Barbados, this requirement must be taken into consideration.

Be sure your routine vaccinations are up-to-date. Check the links below to see which vaccinations adults and children should get.

Routine vaccines, as they are often called, such as for influenza, chickenpox (or varicella), polio, measles/mumps/rubella (MMR), and diphtheria/pertussis/tetanus (DPT) are given at all stages of life; see the childhood and adolescent immunization schedule and routine adult immunization schedule.

Routine vaccines are recommended even if you do not travel. Although childhood diseases, such as measles, rarely occur in the United States, they are still common in many parts of the world. A traveler who is not vaccinated would be at risk for infection.

Vaccine-Preventable Diseases
Vaccination or Disease Recommendations or Requirements for Vaccine-Preventable Diseases
Routine Recommended if you are not up-to-date with routine shots such as, measles/mumps/rubella (MMR) vaccine, diphtheria/pertussis/tetanus (DPT) vaccine, etc.
Hepatitis A or immune globulin (IG) Recommended for all unvaccinated people traveling to or working in countries with an intermediate or high level of hepatitis A virus infection (see map) where exposure might occur through food or water. Cases of travel-related hepatitis A can also occur in travelers to developing countries with "standard" tourist itineraries, accommodations, and food consumption behaviors.
Hepatitis B Recommended for all unvaccinated persons traveling to or working in countries with intermediate to high levels of endemic HBV transmission (see map) and who might be exposed to blood or body fluids, have sexual contact with the local population, or be exposed through medical treatment, such as for an accident, and for all adults requesting protection from HBV infection.
Typhoid Recommended for all unvaccinated people traveling to or working in the Caribbean, especially if visiting smaller cities, villages, or rural areas and staying with friends or relatives where exposure might occur through food or water.
Items to Bring with You

Medicines you may need:

* The prescription medicines you take every day. Make sure you have enough to last during your trip. Keep them in their original prescription bottles and always in your carry-on luggage. Be sure to follow security guidelines, if the medicines are liquids.
* Medicine for diarrhea, usually over-the-counter.

Note: Some drugs available by prescription in the US are illegal in other countries. Check the US Department of State Consular Information Sheets for the country(s) you intend to visit or the embassy or consulate for that country(s). If your medication is not allowed in the country you will be visiting, ask your health-care provider to write a letter on office stationery stating the medication has been prescribed for you.

Other items you may need:

* Iodine tablets and portable water filters to purify water if bottled water is not available. See Preventing Cryptosporidiosis: A Guide to Water Filters and Bottled Water and Safe Food and Water for more detailed information.
* Sunblock and sunglasses for protection from harmful effects of UV sun rays. See Skin Cancer Questions and Answers for more information.
* Antibacterial hand wipes or alcohol-based hand sanitizer containing at least 60% alcohol.
* To prevent insect/mosquito bites, bring:
o Lightweight long-sleeved shirts, long pants, and a hat to wear outside, whenever possible.
o Flying-insect spray to help clear rooms of mosquitoes. The product should contain a pyrethroid insecticide; these insecticides quickly kill flying insects, including mosquitoes.

See other suggested over-the-counter medications and first aid items for a travelers' health kit.
 
Yellow Fever jab is a must on entering Barbados but only if you have visited African and/or South American countries where it is endemic:

Angola
Benin
Burkina Faso
Burundi
Cameroon
Central African Republic
Chad
Congo
Côte d’Ivoire
Democratic Republic of Congo Equatorial Guinea
Ethiopia
Gabon
The Gambia
Ghana
Guinea
Guinea-Bissau
Kenya
Liberia
Mali
Mauritania
Niger Nigeria
Rwanda
Sierra Leone
São Tomé and Principe
Senegal
Somalia
Sudan
Tanzania
Togo
Uganda
Argentina
Bolivia
Brazil
Colombia
Ecuador
French Guiana
Guyana
Panama
Paraguay
Peru
Suriname
Trinidad and Tobago
Venezuela
 
Trust the CDC in the USA to cover their butt most comprehensively with all this advice for Barbados.
In other words, Nick needs nowt.

Nick, we get 300,000 visitors arriving by plane every year here, and I am sure that very few have had any treatments for typhoid - in fact our tap water here is very drinkable, and is far superior to most other places.
 
It's years since I went to Barbados, but the friends we went to stay with told us that we didn't need any shots before going, as "the local rum will kill any bugs you get". They were right, though we had to ingest a suprisingly large dosage to make sure that it worked properly.

I second your advice that "Nick needs nowt" /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif
 
We had hepatitis b vacine before we visited the first time. Hep B is passed in ice cubes and salads that have been washed by someone with contaminated hands (not washed after going to loo-yuk!!). Better safe than sorry. Don't want to be banned from drinking for life!
 
>Various countries in South America though require you to have a veritable barrage of shots, as well as anti malaria formulations.

Err, don't know where that came from. I can only speak for Venezuela but the only thing they recommend is a polio shot for a new strain that broke out in Caracas. They don't require anything. However, if you go to Venezuela get a Yellow Fever shot. The Venezuelans don't demand it but some countries demand you have the shot if you have been to a country where yellow Fever is endemic.
 
Yellow fever is endemic in Triniland according to the list supplied by Lenseman - oooh dear, I have been to Trini a few times, I guess I should have been jabbed up against YF........ but I dont think I have....

In retrospect, sorry KE, my choice of wording re 'require a barrage of shots' was perhaps a bit of an exaggeration. I think though that it would be prudent to have (as a minimum) anti malaria stuff pretty much everywhere in tropical South America.

Re Hep B and a previous poster - why should there be an increased risk of contracting it say here, compared to back home in England? I would have thought that one would stand a similar chance (or maybe even more?) when back home.
 
hey lenseman! sorry i missed you when i departed the uk. it was a frantic crazy unpredicted rush.

ok, so lenseman has confused me with a big long list. bajansailor, since you are actually in barbados, i will assume you are right and just show up!

...that is of course if i can actually get of of baiona. someone remind me, why am i sailing up here in winter? anyone have a truck? /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

nick
 
If you intend to go on to Venzuela you can get visas and shots sorted in Grenada, thats what we did a few years back. You had to have yellow fever to be able to get the visa from the embassy in St georges. But it's easy to check with the embassy whilst you're there. Have a good trip.

Takes a day to sort out.
 
[ QUOTE ]
hey lenseman! sorry i missed you when i departed the uk. it was a frantic crazy unpredicted rush.

nick

[/ QUOTE ]

As you wont be visiting Africa or South America, I wouldn't worry at all /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

I trust you have learn all those flags and their meanings on that chart I gave you. I will test you next time we meet /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

Safe trip.
 
Glad you enjoyed the Rias Nick, they are a bit special,
as you say , why do people hurtle past to get to ?paradise? the MED(iocre).

We didn,t have anything special Nick in way of jabs for the Caribb, but while in Lisbon, go to the health centre and enquire anyway, it,s free. Ask about the Cap Verdes, you may decide to go there, haven,t been, but I would like to on the next circuit.
Where are you now?
Good anchorage at Cascais/Lisbon, outside the Cascais Marina and easy to dodge into the marina if the weather gets iffy. Handy train into Lisbon from Cascais. Bill.
 
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