Mad Dogs and English Men.

Vaccines. It is not exactly the most interesting part about going travelling but it's got to be thought about. I'd researched how much each different vaccine cost, I'd looked into whether or not all the vaccines were actually necessary and I'd made up my mind. We went to see the travel health nurse and it all went out the window. I got scared. We ended up getting everything advised and spending a lot of money!

The Rabies vaccine was one we very nearly opted out of. It's very expensive and I'm not planning on going near, let alone be bitten by, a scary rabid dog. If I did get bitten then I would be much more worried about getting to a hospital and not bleeding to death! Okay, so I may be being a little dramatic but it's true... or so I thought. Apparently you can be bitten by a small bat in the middle of the night, not even realise you have been bitten and that would be enough to get infected with rabies. Anyway, I was convinced.

Malaria tablets were the next dilemma I had. There are lots of expensive Malaria prevention tablets like 'Malarone' with horrible side effects and they do not always cover all strains of Malaria. We have opted for 'Doxycycline' which is basically just an anti biotic but it works to help protect you from all Malaria. It is really cheap (if you get it from the right place) and should not have any serious side effects.  The dilemma I had was whether to take any of these or just go with natural remedies and vitamins. Again, I've been slightly scared into going with the mainstream route. We've got 6 months worth of tablets and can use them in any high risk areas.

useful maps from www.fitfortravel.nhs.uk
with clear malaria risk areas

One traveller's vaccines for South America...

Rabies 

= £150 (3x £50 vaccines before you go, spread out over a month)
Yellow fever
= £50 (and you get a certificate for your pains)
Malaria
= £3.50 a day or 44p a week (...hmm, not exactly a choice!)
Hep B, Hep C, Typhoid, Tetanus, Diphtheria, Polio
= free (just a bit of an achy arm!)

...times that by two and it really adds up. never mind, at least we will not be worrying about scary rabid vampire bats!



(if you are having the same dilemmas as me http://www.fitfortravel.nhs.uk/home.aspx is full of really useful information...)