Vaccinations

The vaccinations and medications we need to get for this trip are amazing. It is truly astounding that you can get a tiny bit of liquid slapped into your arm and you are protected against getting one horrible disease or another.

First we had to review our vaccination histories. We are both at the age where it is likely but not certain that we received boosters for polio and MMR (measles, mumps and rubella). I knew I had the polio booster, but not the MMR. So they ran a blood test, which came back positive, meaning I had immunization against MMR. Check.

Next, tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis (they all come in one shot). If you hadn't noticed, my nickname on this blog is Crash. I have kept up to date on tetanus.

Hepatitis A and B. I got up to date on Hep A recently for a trip to Central America. Had to get the Hep B. That is a series of 3 shots. One in December, one in January, and the 3rd in 6 months.
Next in line was Yellow Fever. We need a stamped Yellow Fever Card to show at the border to get into both Tanzania and Kenya. Most clinics don't keep this one on hand, and it is necessary to find an authorized US Yellow Fever Vaccine Center to get the needed stamp.

The Yellow Fever vaccination is an attenuated live virus. It has a possibility of side effects such as nausea, low grade fever, muscle aches that could occur up to a week after vaccination. Yep- they did. My reaction occurred while we were climbing Mt. Si on the weekend after we got the vaccine. More details on that on my January 17 post. Doreen got a more severe reaction a few days later where she was down for the count at least two days with a fever, nausea and body aches.

Next up- we take our typhoid vaccines starting this weekend. The typhoid vaccine is another live virus, taken in four oral doses (they've been sitting in our fridge for a month waiting for us). We take one every other day at least a week before we are in an area of exposure.

Finally- malaria. There is not a vaccine for malaria, just anti-malarial medication. We start that a couple of days before potential exposure. We will still need to do our best to avoid exposure to malaria, so we will have to keep covered up or use insect repellent when in buggy areas. One good thing about climbing a mountain is we will not be in the mosquito zone for a good part of the climb.

There are several other diseases and bad things out there that there are no vaccines or medications for- dengue fever, cholera, HIV/AIDS. This list goes on. Prevention is the key for avoiding most illnesses that we have the potential to be exposed to. We will have to be diligent about avoiding local untreated water (and foods that may have been washed in untreated water) and not getting bit by insects.