Vaccinations

[ironmaiden]

Hi all I have done a search but cannot seem to find much on what jabs we will need for our circumnavigation.
We are based in the uk but will be spending a few months in the Mediterranean before we set off across the pond and then through Panama and beyond.
Anyone have any input to give as to what we should get here in the uk? Is it possible to get some kind of world coverage?
Many thanks for your input in advance
Regards Rachel

 

[macd]

See the nurse at your local group practice (assuming you have one). She'll be delighted to use her NHS software to tell you exactly what jabs you need for your itinerary. This bit is free. (I daresay there's an app or website which can do the same from home.)

Unfortunately many jabs you'll have to pay for (unless travelling for work or, maybe, if you otherwise qualify). Some are much cheaper elsewhere. Jabs required by most Caribbean countries, for instances, are relatively cheap and easy to come by in the Canaries.

P.S. Not a jab, but no doubt you'll be considering malaria pills. On no account accept Lariam. Horrible side-effects (plenty of info on-line).

 

[Dantp]

We got ours done in the Canaries. Partly because we thought we had them but looked at dates and they had expired. There is a vaccination centre in Santa Cruz, Tenarife.
However the recommendations have changes recently and sets of vaccinations that used to last 10 years are now for life. So if you've had them in the past you might find you need less than you think.
We both have the following:
Yellow fever
Tetanus
Hep A and B
Rabies
Typhoid
Diphtheria
Polio

It's worth at least starting them now as some require boosters after a time interval. The only one that is a requirement is yellow fever if you visit certain countries then you need to have the official certificate of vaccination.

 

[One A.]

We got ours done in the Canaries. Partly because we thought we had them but looked at dates and they had expired. There is a vaccination centre in Santa Cruz, Tenarife.
However the recommendations have changes recently and sets of vaccinations that used to last 10 years are now for life. So if you've had them in the past you might find you need less than you think.
We both have the following:
Yellow fever
Tetanus
Hep A and B
Rabies
Typhoid
Diphtheria
Polio

It's worth at least starting them now as some require boosters after a time interval. The only one that is a requirement is yellow fever if you visit certain countries then you need to have the official certificate of vaccination.

We had ours done in Barcelona at the tropical diseases hospital.

 

[duncan99210]

The Admiral is off to Kenya soon and visited the practice nurse, who checked her medical records and consulted her NHS software package. She came away with a short list of required jabs: most were done by the practice nurse after getting vaccines ordered but she had to go to Truro for her Yellow Fever which has to be done at a recognised clinic able to issue the certificate (which is not needed for Kenya but worth having in case of going somewhere it is required). The nurse also sorted the anti malarial drug she for her: it all cost but not more than about £75-90 in total.

 

[coenvanwyk]

I agree with the above recommendations. We found that yellow fever is not really required in most of the developing world, but you need it when you come home. Yellow cards were available all over, often with a surcharge if you wanted one without the jabs!

As for malaria, the advice is to avoid getting bitten: stay out of swampy areas at dawn and dusk, wear long sleeves at these times, slather on insect repellent (hear what the locals use, tastes differ and some mozzies seem to love seasoning on their dinner) and in general stay away from mozzies. If there is a high prevalence in a specific place, buy the pills locally. The stuff will be fresher, and the locals know what works for their local brand of malaria.

If you do get it, you will know it. Europeans have little resistance, and you are going to get really ill. At the first feeling that you are a little under the weather, take the medication, don't try to tough it out. Cerebral malaria works quickly and can kill, so when in doubt take a pill. Then get checked, even a street cornes pharmacy will be able to test or tell you where to get tested.

I was advised not to take prophylaxis for extended periods, and lived in the tropics for close on twenty years. I did get it once, and was sick as a dog. Bonus: I lost a lot of weight!

Again, ask locally. There are diseases running bout European and American doctors know little about: Dengue, Chicungunya, and some that have no names yet. Local doctors, even if they might look threadbare, deal with these things every day and will be happy to help.

 

[AndrewB]

You should have a fair idea of which countries you are likely to visit. The regular trade-wind circumnavigation via the Panama Canal and South Africa avoids most places where special health measures will be essential, provided you are careful. DantP's list is comprehensive (except for malaria) but you may not actually need all of these. Take a look at https://travelhealthpro.org.uk/countries which gives country-specific advice about local diseases and the vaccinations it is advisable to have before visiting.

Incidentally the advice I was given about rabies was that although long-term prophylactic vaccination is available it is better to get a vaccination very shortly before entering a high risk area or immediately after being bitten.

 

[Heckler]

I agree with the above recommendations. We found that yellow fever is not really required in most of the developing world, but you need it when you come home. Yellow cards were available all over, often with a surcharge if you wanted one without the jabs!

As for malaria, the advice is to avoid getting bitten: stay out of swampy areas at dawn and dusk, wear long sleeves at these times, slather on insect repellent (hear what the locals use, tastes differ and some mozzies seem to love seasoning on their dinner) and in general stay away from mozzies. If there is a high prevalence in a specific place, buy the pills locally. The stuff will be fresher, and the locals know what works for their local brand of malaria.

If you do get it, you will know it. Europeans have little resistance, and you are going to get really ill. At the first feeling that you are a little under the weather, take the medication, don't try to tough it out. Cerebral malaria works quickly and can kill, so when in doubt take a pill. Then get checked, even a street cornes pharmacy will be able to test or tell you where to get tested.

I was advised not to take prophylaxis for extended periods, and lived in the tropics for close on twenty years. I did get it once, and was sick as a dog. Bonus: I lost a lot of weight!

Again, ask locally. There are diseases running bout European and American doctors know little about: Dengue, Chicungunya, and some that have no names yet. Local doctors, even if they might look threadbare, deal with these things every day and will be happy to help.

Lariam, I was advised many years ago by the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine not to take it. Too many questions about it making people phsychotic. I was in Angola most of the time. Took a weekly tab, it didnt work, I caught Black Water Fever, so called because the parasite of cerebral malaria bursts the red blood cells when it multiplies and you start peeing black water. It kills very quickly, I got home to the UK in time and they filled me up with tetracycline and quinine sulphate. It took 3 months to get rid of it completely. A South African living in Llangollen went back for a few weeks, came back with it and the local health centre diagnosed flu! He died! The Maelor Hospital consultant told me that they knew how to treat it because the Pakistani doctors used to go to Pakistan on leave and come back with it!
An interesting fact that I was told in the unit was that black africans developed sickle cell anemia as the bodies way of evolving to combat malaria. The parasite couldnt develop inside the smaller sickle cell shaped red blood cells, they were too small. So they get sick from SCA but dont die from malaria.

 

[macd]

Lariam, I was advised many years ago by the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine not to take it. Too many questions about it making people phsychotic.

An interesting fact that I was told in the unit was that black africans developed sickle cell anemia as the bodies way of evolving to combat malaria. The parasite couldnt develop inside the smaller sickle cell shaped red blood cells, they were too small. So they get sick from SCA but dont die from malaria.

Too right about Lariam, as I mentioned earlier. Quite apart from its dangerous side-effects, which are far more varied than you mention, it has milder ones which are quite common and unpleasant enough. Plenty of info on-line.

No-one 'develops' SCA: it's genetic. It's by no means confined to people of African descent, but affects populations from most areas where malaria is endemic.