malaria/yellow fever prevention, best place to go?

[Norticprincess]

Our PCP doesn't do the Yellow Fever vaccine. DH got his waiver (they want clearance from his oncologist before they give him the vaccine, he wasn't required to have it for Mozambique, they recommended he have the medical waiver depending on his flight layovers) from the occ health clinic his company contracts with, they are also a travel clinic. The CDC has a list of places authorized to give the YF vac wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/yellow-fever-vaccination-clinics/search.htm. The rest of the vaccines (thypoid/ HepA) and meds he could get at either the clinic or our PCP, if he went with the clinic they billed work directly.

When we went to SA I got everything done at our PCP, no yellow fever vaccine required for that trip, just Hep A, didn't need thyroid for the area we were going.

After you find out where you can get the YF vac, I'd call and get price quotes for the vac and the visit, check if your insurance will cover travel vaccines.

[GilliC]

We also got our anti-malarials for Mozambique from our PCP, but when we needed Typhoid, Japanese Encephalitis, etc, we had to go to a travel clinic. Our PCP rec'd one, though. However, they didn't have all the vaccines in stock, so always give yourself plenty of time before a trip where you need one. And if you're going to a yellow fever zone, make sure you get a vaccination certificate and guard it like your passport, because you'll need it to enter a lot of countries afterwards.

[aurora]

Jun 18, 2012 16:17:15 GMT -5 RockNVoll said:

...I'm a little wary of getting a shot in Africa the minute I land.

Yeah...not to scare you, but my travel doctor actually gave me 3 syringes (new, sanitary) with a prescription when we went to Tanzania and told us in no uncertain terms that we were not to allow any doctor there to use a doctor-provided syringe/needle on us. Definitely get all your vaccinations ahead of time. (We did get YF and carried the documentation with us.)

As for anti-malarials, DH, I, and my cousin all took different ones of the three. My cousin took the one that gives you hallucinations, and got those along with malaria. I took the older, "safer" (more tested) one that you have to take longer beforehand and afterwards and it made me nauseous (supposedly a common side-effect). DH took the newer, stronger one that was most expensive but had the fewest side effects, and that's what I'd do next time. (Sorry I don't remember any of the names!)

[emilyinchile]

Malarone is probably the last one that aurora's talking about - my dad and his wife (who's a doctor) have taken it a couple times for travel reasons and both feel strongly that despite the expense, it's by far the best choice.

You also don't want to get your yellow fever right before your trip because it can give you cold-like symptoms about a week afterward. You might not get them, but I did and was pretty pathetic for a couple days, and it would suck to waste precious vacation time feeling bad.

[alleinesein]

I've got Doxyclycline for my malaria drugs for India. Find out which drug you need because each country doesn't always take the same drug.

Travel clinics are usually the best way to go.

[scout8]

I agree that the travel clinic is the best way to go. They will be able to tell you exactly which shots you need. Also, they can best tell you which malaria drugs will work for you in the areas you are visiting.

[mdgirl]

And along the lines of getting a vaccination early enough to let effects wear off, I found that not all pharmacies keep anti-malarials on hand, so give yourself time for that, too.