Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
APPENDIX C
VACCINATIONS
I've been sick many times on the road. Once in Costa Rica, I had bad sushi and ended up in a hospital for three days. I've
gotten mild food poisoning in Thailand in which I've woken up in the middle of the night, clutched my stomach, run to
the bathroom, and drunk Pepto-Bismol like it was going out of fashion. I had a flu in Romania that required me to find a
pharmacy in the middle of the night in a tiny town where no one spoke English. Germs are everywhere, and as travelers we
are often more susceptible to them. We expose our bodies and specifically our immune systems to germs we aren't used
to. Staying healthy on the road is important because you don't want to end up like me and spend your time in a beautiful
historic village in Europe in bed for the week.
I'm not going to give you specific medical advice here, but I do want to touch on a few things. You need to consult
with your own doctor about what you should or should not do while traveling. I get asked a lot about which vaccinations
you should or should not get or if you need malaria tablets everywhere. Before you go away, you should consult a medical
expert as well as do research on the areas you are going and find out the latest information.
The U. S. Centers for Disease Control has a detailed section on medicine and travel at wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/page/
vaccinations.htm and a complete list of vaccinations at cdc.gov/vaccines/schedules/hcp/adult.html.
You can also consult the World Health Organization's website for additional information (who.int/ith/en), which fea-
tures a free digital book for travelers.
If you don't have a doctor, many hospitals have travel clinics where you can visit a doctor and get any shots or
vaccines that you need. You'll have to pay for this out of pocket if you don't have insurance, and it's usually not covered
by U.S. health insurance plans. There are also a number of private travel clinics around the country where you can get the
medical advice you need. Some of these clinics are even free. You can get a list of these clinics from the CDC website
(wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/page/travel-clinics.htm).
While you need to consult with a doctor, I would make sure you get a typhoid, tetanus, hepatitis, and, if you are trav-
eling in Asia, a Japanese encephalitis shot. Those four shots are basic and will cover you for the most common of illnesses
and problems that might occur on the road. You'll need to get any of these vaccinations months in advance, and some
require a second, follow-up shot. You should see your doctor or visit a travel clinic at least six months prior to your trip.
One of the biggest concerns among potential travelers is the threat of malaria, especially in developing countries.
When I first went away, I had the malaria drug Malarone with me for when I went to Southeast Asia. I was told there
was malaria in some parts of the area and I'd need the medication. I took it for a while, until I realized that none of the
Westerners who lived in Asia took it. I stopped taking it. I didn't get malaria. In my nonmedical opinion, while you can
never fully get rid of the threat of malaria, if you are going to very touristy, popular, and developed destinations, your risk
of catching it is minimal. What you decide to do should be based on your conversations with a medical professional and
your feelings about taking medicine every day, but in all my years of travel, outside of Africa or the jungle in the Amazon,
I've never known people to take malaria medication.
If you do decide to get shots and vaccines, you will get a small yellow topic listing all your vaccinations. This is for
your records as well as for health officials in other countries, in case they need to know (for example, at a border crossing
or a doctor's office). Make sure you carry this topic around with you.
WHAT ABOUT MEDICINE?
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