Shots and jabs for Caribbean?

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CharlesM

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Hello all

Are there any jabs or shots or any other health issues such as malaria to consider in the Leewards (St Martin & surrounds)?

You see - I am going there in about 16 days /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif to stay 2 months (in case any of you did not know) hehe

Later
Charles
 
Hep A is old fashioned infectious hepatitis which turns you yellow but doesn't kill you (I know, I caught a dose in Sunny Portugal, dirty swine), you won't get Hep B unless you do naugthy things to the locals.
There's no malaria unless I'm much mistaken.
I found Rum prevented all known diseases (except perhaps doing naughty things with locals).
Please lay in stocks and I'll call round for some treatment in April.
 
I have been to St Maarten recently and I had to have an up to date Tetanus/Diptheria combo and Hepatitus A.

Regards.

Peter.
 
The advice I was given was that there is virtually no malaria, yellow fever or other tropical disease problem in the Lesser Antillies, except perhaps bilharzia in a few isolated places (warning signs posted at known spots, but avoid paddling barefooted in fresh water streams and ponds).

Combined Hep A/Typhoid and Tetanus jabs not strictly necessary, but never a bad idea.
 
The advice is free on the NHS at your local GP's surgery. My belief is to ignore the advice at your peril. As previously mentioned I had 2 jab's Diptheria and Hep A combo and tetanus at their recommendation which cost me absolutely nothing at all on the NHS.
This means that my wife and I didn't feel nervous about visiting this area.

Regards.

Peter.
 
I think you can worry too much about all this. Avoid catching malaria, Hep B and AIDS if possible, otherwise keep your tetanus immunisation up to date (you're as likely to die from that pruning roses in the UK as sailing anywhere).
Remembering to look the right way when crossing the road is much more important (except in St Martin when the drivers will stop and wait for you anyway).
 
Nothing was asked for in caribbean. So, i suppose, since gratuitous injections ain't that clever an idea - don't have any.

However, you will need an injection of slowness. The carib types get a bit narked when us rude europeans who want everything to happen straight away, so it's much better if you greet people gently and askem how they are in shops etc, before asking for what you actually want to buy/order, and when they take forever to (often) find that they haven't got the stuff at all, and/or forgot about your previous order, you have to be nice and calm about that too.
 
French influence ?
The worst thing you can do in any sensible nation is get straight down to business without the bonjour and other civilised pleasantries.
I arrived in French St Martin with legal though scanty paperwork - a simple handshake, bonjour and a bit of banter over the latest rugby results with the immigration controle had far more useful effects than behaving like a US citizen.
 
Thanks for the replys and advice

Regarding slowness... I used to hang out in Dahab (red sea - egypt) for a month each year, and always the first 3 days I felt absolutely wired... taking time to slow down from the harried rate we live in the UK.

Yes - I imagine it will be challenging the first few days...

Cheers
Charles

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14 days... /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif but who's counting?
 
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