Vaccinations- malaria, hep, rabies etc (ASIA)

You won't need yellow fever, the only reason Sofi did is because she went to Africa. Don't bother with rabies either unless your likely to be away from medical facilities for a long period of time (unlikely).

Malaria: I would presume KayleeLand is referring to Larium which isn't usually advised as it has some pretty nasty side affects. Other popular medication are Malarone and Doxycycline. Malarone has the least side affects of all malaria medication, but is also the most expensive at around 1GBP per pill (you also won't be able to buy it anywhere other than the UK). Doxycycline is much cheaper but has worse side affects, and apparently the sun sensitivity can be really bad, so not recommended if you already have problems with sun burn.

I personally didn't bother. I spent loads on it before I went following the advice from my GP, but once getting there I didn't see a single mosquito the entire time in Vietnam so stopped taking them. Still have 70 Malarone tablets sitting in a draw somewhere... Even in Cambodia there were barely any mosquito's. Prevention is far better than medication, and more important since no drug is 100% safe.

You aren't at risk of Malaria in Thailand unless you go to northern hill areas (around Chiang Mai etc - but not inside Chiang Mai itself). You are at risk in all of Cambodia and Vietnam, and I'm not sure about Bali.

Vaccinations: You'll probably get given DPT (dipheria, Polio and tetanus), Hep A&B, and be asked if you want to pay for Rabies and Japanese Encephalitis. Both of those aren't generally required though, and its up to you - they aren't free, infact they are very expensive.

Talk to your GP, read about the risk on the internet, and way up the pros and cons. Take what your GP says with a pinch of salt mind, my one was a right scare mongerer.

Reply 5

duracell

10

Ew doxycycline - personally I wouldn't recommend an anti-malarial where the side effect is photosensitivity if you're going to a sunny country.. seems a bit odd to me.. plus I think there's an antibiotic or something in it which can mess things up if you're on the pill.
Go to the nurse at your GPs and theyll give you all the information you need, will know which ones you may have already had, including what kind of anti-malarials you can use where you're going [for me atovaquone/proguanil - aka Malarone - is suitable for all the places I'm going, and I've been on it before and I had no side effects]
Rabies you'll need to allow a month for all the injections, the same for the Hep A + B.

Reply 6

-Sofi-

duracell

Ew doxycycline - personally I wouldn't recommend an anti-malarial where the side effect is photosensitivity if you're going to a sunny country.. seems a bit odd to me.. plus I think there's an antibiotic or something in it which can mess things up if you're on the pill.
Go to the nurse at your GPs and theyll give you all the information you need, will know which ones you may have already had, including what kind of anti-malarials you can use where you're going [for me atovaquone/proguanil - aka Malarone - is suitable for all the places I'm going, and I've been on it before and I had no side effects]
Rabies you'll need to allow a month for all the injections, the same for the Hep A + B.

this is what i thought but my GP has still recomended it for me! i guess its cos malarone is soo expensive and because i'm going for six months its out of the question really, and the others have really awful side effects that i can't risk! so photosensitivity is nothing compared to some of the others!

Reply 7

-Sofi-

this is what i thought but my GP has still recomended it for me! i guess its cos malarone is soo expensive and because i'm going for six months its out of the question really, and the others have really awful side effects that i can't risk! so photosensitivity is nothing compared to some of the others!

Well Malarone can be prescribed for a maximum of 3 months AFAIK, plus its very expensive when compared to the alternatives. Doxycycline was the first thing suggested to me too, until I told her I'd rather go with Malarone (after reading about side affects and what-not before hand, figured it was worth paying the extra if its gunna save me being ill). Its much more critical in Africa though, really a lot of the places they recommend medication for its rarely needed. Afterall approximately 80 percent of malaria cases and 90 to 95 percent of malaria-related deaths in the world are estimated to be in Africa (though this could be partly to due with lack of treatment rather than actual prevalence!)

Another thing, Malaria medication only prevents the parasite from developing. Its basically a poison which your taking the entire time (hence the side affects). If you cought Malaria, then went straight to a doctor you would be fine (they would then likely give you some Doxycycline to kill the parasite). The only problem is Malaria symtoms are very similar to a lot of other stuff - nausia, head aches, flu like symtoms - which could be caused by a number of things. What some travellers do is simply carry around an emergency packet of pills to take if they think they've contracted Malaria. Ofcourse side affects are going to be more severe when you take this emergency prescription since you'll be taking more than one pill at a time. Atleast this way you don't have to take them every day though.

Reply 8

Cez

I wouldn't go without anti-malarials tbh, and I wouldn't count on buying them there as there have been cases of fake pills being sold. I took doxycycline in Africa and didn't have any trouble with sunburn. I also took lariam in Borneo and didn't have any probs with side effects but knew a few people who did. In africa, a girl I was with had huge probs with malarone, with a dodgy belly every day for nearly 2 months, and she also ended up developing an ulcer in her oesophagus from the medication. I would recommend doxycycline, but remember it's an antibiotic so it'll interfere with the pill....

As for vaccinations, you'll prob need Hep A and B, typhoid, make sure your tetanus and MMR and polio are up to date, as well as your TB (BCG).

I wouldn't bother with rabies (it doesn't stop you contracting rabies, just gives you an extra 24 hours or so to get treatment if you are bitten, therefore only necessary if you're on a remote jungle trek for some time, for example), and equally I wouldn't bother with Jap B Enc unless you're going on a long volunteering trip to a village in Vietnam, or something. The Jap B injection itself can be pretty bad for you, plus its pretty expensive. You don't need yellow fever for SE Asia.

You'll have to pay for a private prescription for your anti-malarials, I'd recommend buying the pills from www.travelpharm.co.uk I always use them when I need anti-malarials and they're fast and usually a hell of a lot cheaper than Boots, even if you do end up going for malarone.

Reply 9

jennyfrost

Yeah don't bother with malaria tablets in Asia, it is only a little problem in the rural areas and the chances of getting are slim. Some of the tablets are horrible too!!!

Reply 10

, Malarone has got more expensive, its now over 2GBP per pill!

http://www.stratford-pharmacy.co.uk/index.cfm?page=pharmacy.productDetail&productid=1

Probably cheapest place on the net though, where I got my stuff from last time...

Reply 11

kookoo_koochoo

Have to say apart from the totally minging taste of malaria tablets, I've never had a problem with them, I didn't even know they could actually. But you'll probably need a yellow fever, hep B, rabies shot and malaria tablets that I can think of. I THINK yellow fever cos I had it when I went to Kenya, but I've never had it for India... and you should take malaria tablets even if there is hardly any chance of being bitten by a bad mosquito cos it's not a chance worth taking.

But have a chat with your GP or nurse (the nurses should know more about it actually) and they'll let you know.

Reply 12

JoeJBB

13

kookoo_koochoo

Have to say apart from the totally minging taste of malaria tablets, I've never had a problem with them, I didn't even know they could actually. But you'll probably need a yellow fever, hep B, rabies shot and malaria tablets that I can think of. I THINK yellow fever cos I had it when I went to Kenya, but I've never had it for India... and you should take malaria tablets even if there is hardly any chance of being bitten by a bad mosquito cos it's not a chance worth taking.

But have a chat with your GP or nurse (the nurses should know more about it actually) and they'll let you know.

I thought the yellow fever jab was a legal requirement before you get could into India :s-smilie:

Reply 13

kookoo_koochoo

JoeJBB

I thought the yellow fever jab was a legal requirement before you get could into India :s-smilie:

Maybe it depends where you go? Cos I always stay in the south and I've never had it for India and when my boyfriend came a year ago he didn't either. Unless they've changed it recently?

Reply 14

JoeJBB

I thought the yellow fever jab was a legal requirement before you get could into India :s-smilie:

Only if you've got a stamp to sub saharan Africa in your passport.

Reply 15

crema

9

I've had Lariam. It wasn't too bad, the only thing I got as side-effect were extremely funky and vivid dreams. In fact, it was quite nice as I don't generally tend to remember my dreams that much. Some girls I knew had minor hallusinations on them and heard voices lol. I had a supply of doxycycline incase Lariam had too many side-effects but didn't really want to take them because it increases light sensitivity. And you need to take them everyday instead of just once a week with Lariam. Anyway, with malaria the most important thing is prevention i.e. mosquito nets, covering up at night and proper deet-based repellants.

Anyway I am sure your GP will be better able to tell you what to do. Getting hep A&B would be a good start though, especially since your trip is such a long one. You'll have to pay for B but I's recommend it anyway, dunno if you'd get an accident etc and it might be good to have that.

Reply 16

rscully

rakata

Hi,

Planning on going to Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam & Bali this year, and was wondering what vaccionations/tablets/etc I should expect to have to buy/get?!

Thanks

Although these places aren't high risk for malaria, I would recommend taking doxycyclone. The sun sensitivity doesn't affect everyone, so don't be too worried about that until you've been taking them a while. I've never met anyone that took Malarone and didn't have any side effects, but I met plenty on doxy that were fine. Plus, doxy is a general anesthetic so it will help you avoid/get over other things much better.

Of course, it's worth remembering that side effects are different for everyone so don't think doxy has 15 listed side effects, I'll end up getting them all!!

Reply 17

Cez

You don't need yellow fever for SE Asia.

You do need yellow fever for parts of Africa and the Americas. I've travelled extensively in SE Asia and Africa in the last few years.

I'd honestly think twice before going to SE Asia and not taking anti-malarials, you don't know if you'll even get any side effects and getting malaria doesn't sound like a barrel of laughs.
http://www.malariahotspots.co.uk/

Reply 18

Cez