Vaccinations

Robert McOmber

My wife and I are booked on the Tanzania/Kenya tour in late September. We are not experienced international travelers. I am pretty comfortable with the preparation thus far, but I do have a bit of an uncomfortable feeling about vaccinations. We both recently got vaccinated for Hep A, Hep B, typhoid and have malaria pills. We both also assume (but don't really know or have hard evidence) that we had whatever vaccinations kids typically got in the 1950's. As far as I could tell from the CDC website, there are a number of recommended vaccines for the two countries, but I did not see anything that was absolutely required to get in the country. Are we going to have any problems? Is this adequate?

British

You have made a good start, but if you have never had boosters for the childhood vaccinations, tetanus, diphtheria, whooping cough, measles, mumps, rubella, polio.... etc you ought to have these whether you are traveling internationally or not. These diseases are common and deadly in Africa. An annual flu vaccine ( we just got our flu vaccine today) , and depending on your age, Shingles and pneumonia vaccines too. If you have grandchildren, it also protects you from them and them from you .It seems that Yellow fever vaccine is impossible to find at present in the US. So no discussions about this are worth it. Have a great time.

JamaFlagstad

From what i have ben reading, yellow fever vaccination is required for travel between Kenya and Tanzania. Are travelers just getting back from this safari finding out that this is NOT the case?

rbckim1

I also have questions about the vaccines. According to the CDC, you need typhoid if:

You can get typhoid through contaminated food or water in Tanzania. CDC recommends this vaccine for most travelers, especially if you are staying with friends or relatives, visiting smaller cities or rural areas, or if you are an adventurous eater.


You need Cholera if:

Cholera is a risk in parts of Tanzania. CDC recommends this vaccine for adults who are traveling to an area of active cholera transmission. Most people do not travel to areas of active cholera transmission. Avoiding unsafe food and water can also prevent many cholera infections. Cholera is rare in travelers but can be severe. Certain factors may increase the risk of getting cholera or having severe disease (more information).


I do not know if we are traveling to rural areas in Tanzania or an area of active cholera transmission.

The woman I spoke with at Tauck said to follow the CDC recommendation but I can't follow the CDC recommendations if I don't know if I am traveling to these type of areas. We are traveling in January 2018 and Tauck will not share the detailed 2017 itinerary. I have been on several Tauck tours and do not want to want until a month of two before the trip to get the details. I understand the itinerary is being updated for 2018 but some details remain static.

So...question is...will we be traveling to rural areas in Tanzania and/or areas where Cholera is active?

Thank you.

Rmm6

We definitely got the typhoid and the yellow fever. We didn't get cholera, but we were there in July during the dry season. We didn't spend any time in what I would call rural areas. We drove through a rural town and visited a Masai village.

AlanS

rbckim1 wrote:

I also have questions about the vaccines. According to the CDC, you need typhoid if:

You can get typhoid through contaminated food or water in Tanzania. CDC recommends this vaccine for most travelers, especially if you are staying with friends or relatives, visiting smaller cities or rural areas, or if you are an adventurous eater.


You need Cholera if:

Cholera is a risk in parts of Tanzania. CDC recommends this vaccine for adults who are traveling to an area of active cholera transmission. Most people do not travel to areas of active cholera transmission. Avoiding unsafe food and water can also prevent many cholera infections. Cholera is rare in travelers but can be severe. Certain factors may increase the risk of getting cholera or having severe disease (more information).


I do not know if we are traveling to rural areas in Tanzania or an area of active cholera transmission.

The woman I spoke with at Tauck said to follow the CDC recommendation but I can't follow the CDC recommendations if I don't know if I am traveling to these type of areas. We are traveling in January 2018 and Tauck will not share the detailed 2017 itinerary. I have been on several Tauck tours and do not want to want until a month of two before the trip to get the details. I understand the itinerary is being updated for 2018 but some details remain static.

So...question is...will we be traveling to rural areas in Tanzania and/or areas where Cholera is active?

Thank you.

Yes you will be traveling to rural areas. Look at Google Maps or Google Earth in both map and satellite views. This just a WAG- but I would say 95%-99% of Tanzania are rural (only slightly less so for Kenya). Follow the route (rough/generalized map and/or the itinerary) on the tour page. You start in the small town of Arusha and head Southwest to Lake Manyara then to Ngorongoro Crater. Since only a few roads are paved you will be following the major ones- which are usually the only ones. Major is a misnomer because they are barely two lanes wide! There is almost nothing in between stops except a few tiny Masaii villages- think just a few bomas shared with animals- and herds of cattle and wild animals. Most of the road from Ngorongoro crater to the Four Seasons in the Serengeti is unpaved, just a dirt and gravel road across the wide open Serengetti. Yes, you will be staying at nice hotels, tiny islands of civilization in the middle of nowhere. Really there is little to nothing in between.

So the question becomes, do you want take a chance and rely 100% on the bugs, food, water, and hygiene of the workers in those little pockets of civilization, or get the inoculations recommended and be done with it. Or picture this- you are on a game drive, traveling in a safari vehicle. You cross a little stream down in a steep gulley. The jeep rolls on its side, you are thrown into the stream, and end up with a mouthful of water or are injured. What is upstream? Is the water safe? Who knows? This may seem a bit of a stretch, and hopefully not likely to happen, but what if it or something else unforeseen does?

The best guidance those of us who have taken this trip and Tauck can give you is to see a travel doctor. His specialty is knowing what areas shots are needed where you are going. Take the online itinerary and map with you. Also, you can still get inoculations the travel doc doesn't think necessary. This is a fantastic tour, but I would err on the side of safety. Get the shots and be done with it.