Vaccines / Immunizations

If you are heading somewhere exotic and developing you will of course need to head down to a doctors and get a variety of jabs before disappearing. Most of the important ones will be boosters of shots you probably had as a child. There are several others, but it is worth thinking twice about being sold on having the 'whole package' - it all depends on where you are going and how you feel about the risk. Many jabs are expensive and quite a few like Japanese B Encephalitis and Rabies are of debatable necessity.

So what jabs do I need? You typically need for third world travel regardless of what country you are visiting the following shots: Typhoid (3 years - also available as a pill), Meningitis (A+C), Diphtheria (10 years), Hepatitis A (two doses, 10 years - or immunoglobulin that will last for 3-6 months)), Polio (10 years), Tetanus (10 years) and if you are heading to parts of South America or Africa then Yellow fever (10 years). It's only fair to warn you, you're going to feel a little groggy after some of these shots.

Within the UK and other EU countries with a national/socialised health service, for the immunizations listed above, you will typically be charged for Yellow Fever and Hepatitis A only, at a cost of about €110 (£70), with Hep A/Typhoid and Diphtheria/Tetanus/Polio being typically free - this will of course vary from country to country (in places like Ireland or Switzerland, it is unlikely you will get anything free!). Walk in clinics are good for those in a hurry, but will charge considerably more.

Within the USA and other countries without a government funded health service the cost of your shots will be quite substantial in some cases and are rarely covered on medical insurance (you might find Tetanus included). The following charges are typical for the United States: Typhoid - $69, Polio Booster - $48, Hep A & B - $190 (per shot 2/3 needed), Yellow Fever - $98, Meno Meningitis -$126 & Rabies - $199 (per shot, 3 needed). In the States you usually have to go to special travel doctors to get the shots, as most doctors and clinic's don't carry them.

Rabies, Hepatitis B and Japanese B Encephalitis in many opinions (all non-medical) are not necessary considering the cost/number of injections and rarity. The rabies jab, for instance is only to 'extend the time you have to get to a doctor' who will have to administer further treatment - so is only needed for extremely remote travel or particular danger zones and activities. Hep B is perhaps only advisable if you plan to be sexually active, as it is an STI.



Malaria

While there is no real vaccine for Malaria, it can avoided by taking some precautions, asking doctors to provide you specific pills, which sort give you immunity for some limited time. Makes me think of those "invincibility power-ups" in some videogames, where for some short time nothing can harm you...

For a complete coverage of which areas are at risk, and all other information, please visit: 1000 travel tips (malaria page)


List of health threats to travellers

It would be pretty useless to copy and paste a great list i found on a site regarding the main maladies that a traveller will come across (including women's concerns). Many thanks to him, for his great work.
Click here for the list (Scroll down a little to find it!)



I take no credit for writing this part, i just limited myself to gather what i thought was useful from other sites. Many thanks to the authors of the original articles, including travelindependent.info for the first paragraph (which i literally copied from his site)