Vaccinations
Hello,
My husband and I are traveling to South Africa: An Elegant Adventure on May 12th. I am in a quandary about whether or not to take the Malaria and Yellow Fever Vaccinations since it's not the rainy season, and the weather will be in the 50s to 70s (degrees Fahrenheit). We are in our upper 60s and 70s and are concerned about the side effect of these vaccinations. Does anyone have any thoughts? Has anyone traveled to this part of the world and NOT been vaccinated? My experience has been that healthcare practitioners err on the side of vaccinations.
Thank you,
Shelley
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Comments
Hi, Shelley! We went to a travel medicine physician and he did not recommend the yellow fever vaccine for South Africa. We did get that vaccine previously, however, for a trip to the Amazon in South America so we are basically protected for life - apparently now you only have to get that vax once. We had no side effects from it, but it is a weakened live vaccine so there are some risks. I believe it’s contraindicated for those 60+. As for malaria, we did take Malarone since malaria is endemic at Kruger National Park, but it’s not an issue in some other reserves so it depends where you’re going. But the Elegant Adventure goes to Kruger. We didn’t see many mosquitos at all out in the bush when we were there, (although a few made their way into one of our rooms), but it was the end of their winter/early spring. I would definitely check with a physician because it’s a personal decision, also based on itinerary, and driven by each individual’s health situation, but just letting you know what we did based on our visit with the travel med physician. Also, there is more than one type of prophylactic medication for malaria, so depending on any other medication you may be taking, Malarone may not be the specific drug prescribed (there’s also doxycycline, etc.). There is currently no vaccine for malaria. But if you contract malaria, it’s nasty. So we chose to take the meds. Our doctor also recommended treating our clothes with permethrin and using a good insect repellent. We did both. He did say if we had any bad effects from the Malarone, then simply stop taking it. But fortunately, we had no issues nor did any of our friends who took it. One thing I would suggest is leaving any insect repellent on overnight (don’t wash it off) just in case any little buggers get in your room. There are mosquito nets around the bed, but I found a couple in the bathroom. That said, I didn’t get any bites. 🎉
When we went on the South Africa Elegant Adventure, yellow fever vaccine wasn’t recommended because South Africa doesn’t have yellow fever. There isn’t a vaccine for malaria. You take a medication as a preventive. We took malarone. No problems with it.
It’s entirely your choice! Talk to your travel doctor. This subject comes up frequently on the forum.
Read read read the medical literature as an addition too. We got the yellow fever vaccine because it’s required for numerous countries or you might be refused entry. We had no side effects. We always take malaria. meds, we had taken them for many trips now and never had a problem. We don’t want any chance of contracting malaria because you never get rid of it from your body and it can flare up any time. Billions of dollars are spent on trying to develop a vaccine for malarias and I think one has recently been approved for children but I can’t recall the details.
Mosquitoes are hard to spot, there might be only one in your room, we did find a lot n our room when we were at Victoria Falls in particular. Also in a Tanzania location but I can’t recall when and where.