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04-20-2007, 12:17 PM
|  | Travelforum Addict | | Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: It varies. I generally try and avoid being in cold miserable places.
Posts: 305
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Oh re TB. Burma... reckon there must be a lot there, never seen so many people with appalling chronic coughs as on the buses there and they spit everywhere too...the country is covered in golden stupas and red betel nut juice spit.
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05-21-2008, 09:40 PM
| | Travelforum Member | | Join Date: Mar 2008
Posts: 28
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Can you get Jap B Encephalitis innoculations in Thailand?
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05-22-2008, 02:55 AM
|  | Travelforum Member | | Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Waikiki, Western Australia
Posts: 79
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Hi Ali
It is nice to see you on the forum again, I hope you do not mind me asking but did you do your Conclusion to the JBRs.
All the best
Sharrie
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05-22-2008, 07:05 AM
| | Travelforum Addict | | Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Perth Australia
Posts: 382
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ali@Perth  Hi there
My friends and I were planning a 3 month trip to SE Asia - the majority of which would be spent in Thailand. One of the girls was particularly worried about getting jabs for various different things so we all went ahead and got the normal ones (i.e. tetnus boosters, typhoid, Hep A). We also got malaria tablets.
We did our research after that and the more we did, the more we stressed out about what we could get if we didn't have this jab or that jab and how we needed to know the exact amount of time we'd be in malaria affected areas in order to have the correct amount of tablets. It all got a bit much to be honest.
Instead of stressing, I decided to talk to people that had actually travelled in SE Asia and get their opinions (as you're doing now). I found out that the majority of them never got jabs (and to be honest, it never actually crossed my mind to until my friend suggested we should). I was told by a travel doctor that there is absolutely no point getting a rabies shot (they are expensive and not even preventative if you are bitten by an infected animal!) and not to bother with the Jap jab either.
He also explained that it all depends on where you're travelling too - if you're doing hill tribe treks up in the North then you may need to consider getting more jabs than if you weren't too. If you're going to be in certain parts of Laos or Vietnam, then again, there are jabs you may want to consider getting that you wouldn't otherwise have to worry about. It's all too much effort if you ask me!
In the end, this is what we did...we all got our tetnus boosters. We all got the Hep A & B shots (I think it's A & B or it could have been A & C...can't remember now!), we got scripts for malaria pills and for a meningococcal vaccine (as there were serious outbreaks in parts of Vietnam we were planning to go to), we got our typhoid shot and a satchets of some sort of medicine we had to mix with water for Cholera. Do you know how much that all came to? Put it this way, WAY too much!
(okay, so I know this reply is a bit long winded but I wish someone would have said this all to me!)
Now, if you were to refer to the Lonely Planet Asia & India healthy travel handbook (which is very handy and very detailed!) then they suggest you do the following before travelling to SE Asia:
Tetnus
Polio
Hep A Vaccine
Hep A Immunoglobulin
Typhoid
Meningococcal
Hep B
Rabies (pre-exposure)
Jap B Encephalitis
BCG (tb)
Malaria Pills
If you were to get all of that done, you would, without a doubt, be not only insane, but looking at paying close to (if not more than) $1,000.
In final, I will tell you that out of the group I was meant to be travelling with, which for the first 2 weeks was a group of 12 people,
only 3 people got the jabs that I mentioned we were advised to get. The rest of them got nothing - not even the malaria tablets. I didn't end up going on that trip, and I was 1 of those people! They are over there at the moment, and I hear from them on a regular basis. Irnoically enough, the girls that got the jabs have been sicker than the people that haven't but it's just your average Asian sickness - the runs, stomach cramps, vomiting etc which is to be expected when you're off the beaten track in Laos and Cambodia! Anyway, by the sounds of things, they are all fine - even those that didn't get the shots.
My advice to you is assess the risk and make your own mind up about what jabs you have. 4 weeks isn't a very long time so I wouldn't get too carried away.
Good luck and have an awesome time!
Ali | double post,sorry!
Den.
Last edited by fishy; 05-22-2008 at 07:08 AM.
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05-22-2008, 07:06 AM
| | Travelforum Addict | | Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Perth Australia
Posts: 382
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ali@Perth Hi there
My friends and I were planning a 3 month trip to SE Asia - the majority of which would be spent in Thailand. One of the girls was particularly worried about getting jabs for various different things so we all went ahead and got the normal ones (i.e. tetnus boosters, typhoid, Hep A). We also got malaria tablets.
We did our research after that and the more we did, the more we stressed out about what we could get if we didn't have this jab or that jab and how we needed to know the exact amount of time we'd be in malaria affected areas in order to have the correct amount of tablets. It all got a bit much to be honest.
Instead of stressing, I decided to talk to people that had actually travelled in SE Asia and get their opinions (as you're doing now). I found out that the majority of them never got jabs (and to be honest, it never actually crossed my mind to until my friend suggested we should). I was told by a travel doctor that there is absolutely no point getting a rabies shot (they are expensive and not even preventative if you are bitten by an infected animal!) and not to bother with the Jap jab either.
He also explained that it all depends on where you're travelling too - if you're doing hill tribe treks up in the North then you may need to consider getting more jabs than if you weren't too. If you're going to be in certain parts of Laos or Vietnam, then again, there are jabs you may want to consider getting that you wouldn't otherwise have to worry about. It's all too much effort if you ask me!
In the end, this is what we did...we all got our tetnus boosters. We all got the Hep A & B shots (I think it's A & B or it could have been A & C...can't remember now!), we got scripts for malaria pills and for a meningococcal vaccine (as there were serious outbreaks in parts of Vietnam we were planning to go to), we got our typhoid shot and a satchets of some sort of medicine we had to mix with water for Cholera. Do you know how much that all came to? Put it this way, WAY too much!
(okay, so I know this reply is a bit long winded but I wish someone would have said this all to me!)
Now, if you were to refer to the Lonely Planet Asia & India healthy travel handbook (which is very handy and very detailed!) then they suggest you do the following before travelling to SE Asia:
Tetnus
Polio
Hep A Vaccine
Hep A Immunoglobulin
Typhoid
Meningococcal
Hep B
Rabies (pre-exposure)
Jap B Encephalitis
BCG (tb)
Malaria Pills
If you were to get all of that done, you would, without a doubt, be not only insane, but looking at paying close to (if not more than) $1,000.
In final, I will tell you that out of the group I was meant to be travelling with, which for the first 2 weeks was a group of 12 people,
only 3 people got the jabs that I mentioned we were advised to get. The rest of them got nothing - not even the malaria tablets. I didn't end up going on that trip, and I was 1 of those people! They are over there at the moment, and I hear from them on a regular basis. Irnoically enough, the girls that got the jabs have been sicker than the people that haven't but it's just your average Asian sickness - the runs, stomach cramps, vomiting etc which is to be expected when you're off the beaten track in Laos and Cambodia! Anyway, by the sounds of things, they are all fine - even those that didn't get the shots.
My advice to you is assess the risk and make your own mind up about what jabs you have. 4 weeks isn't a very long time so I wouldn't get too carried away.
Good luck and have an awesome time!
Ali | Last time I took anti Malaria pills they made me really sick! You had to take them 2 weeks prior and 2 weeks after the trip, so you would need to take them for 3 1/2 months 
I stopped taking them as nobody would come near me ,they give you really bad stomach cramps and wind  .
You are from W.A so you should be used to the mossies and how to avoid being bitten!
Ross River virus is mosquito borne and pretty serious when you get it,but nobody really bothers to get a shot here?
Den.
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05-26-2008, 03:39 PM
|  | Travelforum Regular | | Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Western Aus
Posts: 141
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Hi all
The general rule of thumb is that anyone who has all their regular immunisations (Diptheria,Tetanus,Hep A&B,Polio,Whooping cough,) up to date should be fine in the touristy areas. It's is only those that intend on going on jungle trecks or to far flung places need to worry about Malaria,dengue fever etc.
Best thimg for Mossies is a repellent that contains deet most tropical strength mossie repellants have it.The best one here in Aus is Aerogard Tropical.Other rules are don't drink the water --even clean your teeth with bottled water.Before having ice in a drink ensure it is made with bottled water.
One of the biggest risks to feeling well at the moment are some really nasty flu virus strains--A flu injection is pretty inexpensive and covers against the main nasty strains.
hope this info helps
Cheers laurs
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