Vaccinations and Vacations (not to the Vatican)
On Friday morning I headed in to the city to visit Dr Charlie, a doctor with a particularly strong interest in travel vaccinations, and stabbing people in the arm with large needles, which is a useful combination.
Started off by running through the intinerary, so we could establish which items on the menu of diseases I might be unfortunate enough to sample. It turns out that my itinerary is not nearly as risky as first thought. Equally important as the countries visited is the places within those countries that will be visited. So whilst there might be risk of disease in places such as Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia, the risk is largely confined to areas outside the major cities, and to those travellers who will be engaged in risky activity, such as biking trips. During much of my sojourn, travel will be in the major cities with only the occassional trip to somewhere remote and probably unpronouncable.
Nonetheless, by the end of the consultation, I had a needle jabbed into each of my upper arms, one of them for Hepititis B, and another with a smooth and succulent cocktail of Typhoid and Hepatitis vaccination. I also left armed with some information on the risk of Rabies and Malaria in the places I will be venturing through - the gut feeling, though, was that the risk is small enough to not worry about 'em.
Started off by running through the intinerary, so we could establish which items on the menu of diseases I might be unfortunate enough to sample. It turns out that my itinerary is not nearly as risky as first thought. Equally important as the countries visited is the places within those countries that will be visited. So whilst there might be risk of disease in places such as Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia, the risk is largely confined to areas outside the major cities, and to those travellers who will be engaged in risky activity, such as biking trips. During much of my sojourn, travel will be in the major cities with only the occassional trip to somewhere remote and probably unpronouncable.
Nonetheless, by the end of the consultation, I had a needle jabbed into each of my upper arms, one of them for Hepititis B, and another with a smooth and succulent cocktail of Typhoid and Hepatitis vaccination. I also left armed with some information on the risk of Rabies and Malaria in the places I will be venturing through - the gut feeling, though, was that the risk is small enough to not worry about 'em.
Comments
and don't patting any dogs or strange wildlife.