Vaccinations
Going on this trip in Aug 2024. Just booked and will be the first trip to Africa. Need advise as to vaccinations and if you have to show documentation for all vaccinations. Thanks for any and all advice.
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Going on this trip in Aug 2024. Just booked and will be the first trip to Africa. Need advise as to vaccinations and if you have to show documentation for all vaccinations. Thanks for any and all advice.
Comments
Most people will give thoughts including me here. But best to talk to a Dr, go with the map of where you are going and a full history of your health. I’ve given up now about vaccines because I just can’t believe how few people don’t always have the vaccines that are available even for just everyday life in the USA.
@VirginiaBeasley - follow the advice of British. The CDC has information on recommended preventative care and vaccines. But I would strongly caution you to speak to a Travel Doctor soon, and then your PCP to make more tailored recommendations to your personal health history.
My wife and I did a cruise that visited a number of countries in Africa. Prior to that trip, we got recommendations from a travel doctor.
The issue is that they tend to recommend quite a few vaccines. I think they want to protect themselves by recommending a vaccine for every possibility. We discussed the recommendations and only went with what we thought were really important, based on the fact that we would be in certain countries for only a short time.
You are responsible for your health so balance the risk of certain vaccines with the risk (probablilty) of the disease.
I think they want to protect themselves by recommending a vaccine for every possibility.
You think maybe they want to protect you, huh?
I'm not sure if you were directing your comment to me, but I'll reply with my experience. When I got my report suggesting vaccines for our trip to Africa, there were the usual vaccines, but there were also vaccines mentioned for diseases I had never heard of. I researched each of those unusual diseases, and the prevalence of each disease in the areas we would be traveling in.
Each was a low occurrence disease, and a few were not even reported in the areas we would be in.
Sure, it would be great to be protected from every possible disease, but I expect each vaccine has certain risks which have to be balanced against the probability of coming into contact with the disease and the danger posed by the disease itself.
The company which administers the vaccines makes a profit from each vaccine. The company which recommends the vaccines may experience certain pressures to recommend more vaccines than less.
One pressure could be from the company administrating the vaccines – more vaccines mean more profit. Another pressure could be to avoid legal issues. If a vaccine was recommended to you and you didn’t get it, you’d have a hard time bringing a legal case. But if you were not recommended a vaccine and contracted that disease, you might then ask why they didn’t recommend that vaccine.
Each of us has the responsibility for our own health and we need to take these things into account.
I will continue to follow the advice of my primary care physicians whom I have been with for decades and trust implicitly, not 'experts' herein. I and my specialists control my health decisions. This is merely my opinion.
I agree with you K… but it depends, some of my doctors don’t have a clue, they certainly don’t know anything about the places I am going to and some refer me to travel doctor or I know more than them.
Not sure how helpful this would be but it is in fact possible to contact the CDC:
https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/page/contact
I would only visit a travel clinic that was approved by my primary doctor. Then I would certainly be inclined to take whatever vaccines they recommended, or at least review the list with my primary doctor. If I had any questions, I might consider contacting the CDC directly. The CDC is constantly keeping track of new disease outbreaks around the world. What you may not have needed 2 weeks ago might be a good idea today.
(I am fortunate to belong to a medical system that has an in-house Travel Clinic and my vaccines are covered, so I do not have personal experience outside my health plan.)
I understand what you are saying, British and Wan, and agree that I would consult my specialists before being injected with what someone else suggests. I believe the CDC to be a very trusted source, but I would still have my providers have the final say, just as Wan suggests.
Most travel doctors follow CDC guidelines Most people appear to be reluctant to follow those guidelines judging by what people say here. I meant that my primary doctor and some specialists don’t have a clue.
Who needs the CDC when you can just ask some random, anonymous people on an internet forum?
BKMD, I love your sense of humor 😂
Thanks, Sandy. We aim to please!