vaccinations

[essowner]

Can anyone advise if there are any vaccinations required for visiting eastern med countries. I am doing Adriatic Explorer and Pearls of the Aegean cruises.

[davecttr]

Can anyone advise if there are any vaccinations required for visiting eastern med countries. I am doing Adriatic Explorer and Pearls of the Aegean cruises.

The best course of action is to see your doctors practice nurse who can give definitive advice and arrange for any vaccinations that might be needed.

I believe there is a goverment web site with advice as well but i would check with medical experts

[Julessmiles]

Can anyone advise if there are any vaccinations required for visiting eastern med countries. I am doing Adriatic Explorer and Pearls of the Aegean cruises.

 

 

We had our "telephone consultation" yesterday re vaccinations - we are visiting Greece & Turkey - they said we need to be up-to-date with Tetanus, Polio & Hepatitis A. As we are not actually staying overnight in these countries or travelling anywhere "at risk", they said that was all we would need; might just be worth contacting your own GP to ensure you are up-to-date

[Little Nell]

We had our "telephone consultation" yesterday re vaccinations - we are visiting Greece & Turkey - they said we need to be up-to-date with Tetanus, Polio & Hepatitis A. As we are not actually staying overnight in these countries or travelling anywhere "at risk", they said that was all we would need; might just be worth contacting your own GP to ensure you are up-to-date

 

Now I am in a panic. I had no idea about this. It never entered my head that you would need vaccinations for these countries and doubt if mine are up to date :eek:

[Jakanne1]

Now I am in a panic. I had no idea about this. It never entered my head that you would need vaccinations for these countries and doubt if mine are up to date :eek:

 

Gosh. There are so many things to think about!:eek:

[Julessmiles]

Now I am in a panic. I had no idea about this. It never entered my head that you would need vaccinations for these countries and doubt if mine are up to date :eek:

 

I shouldn't panic too much - I forgot to check ours last time we went to that area in 2010; you will probably only be visiting relatively clean areas and if you eat any food/drinks etc, just make sure you are careful where you buy it from.

 

I was surprised to be told that Hep A lasts for 20-25 years & Tetanus is pretty much life-long too if you had all your childhood vaccines; when are you travelling? There may be time to still get some in before you go......

[barkingmad]

Our daughter lives in Turkey and we have been going 3-4 times a year for the past 10yrs and never had any vaccinations.

[Little Nell]

I shouldn't panic too much - I forgot to check ours last time we went to that area in 2010; you will probably only be visiting relatively clean areas and if you eat any food/drinks etc, just make sure you are careful where you buy it from.

 

I was surprised to be told that Hep A lasts for 20-25 years & Tetanus is pretty much life-long too if you had all your childhood vaccines; when are you travelling? There may be time to still get some in before you go......

 

To my knowledge I have never had a Hep A vaccination and I know for sure my tetanus only lasts 10 years and I am pretty sure it is over 10 years since I had my last one. We are travelling in 2 weeks! Thanks for the advice.

[Little Nell]

Our daughter lives in Turkey and we have been going 3-4 times a year for the past 10yrs and never had any vaccinations.

 

Phew! Will check it out with my friend tomorrow who is a nurse and frequent visitor to Turkey. Surely if vaccinations were essential, rather than recommended Thomson would have told us? I am trying to excuse my ignorance!!

[Julessmiles]

Phew! Will check it out with my friend tomorrow who is a nurse and frequent visitor to Turkey. Surely if vaccinations were essential, rather than recommended Thomson would have told us? I am trying to excuse my ignorance!!

 

 

I wouldn't say they're essential - it's entirely up to the individual to have vaccinations as a precaution. As I said before, you shouldn't be travelling in any real "at risk" areas - just be sensible what you eat & drink!

 

Here's a link to vaccine information for Turkey:-

 

http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/travel/asia/turkey.shtml

[Little Nell]

I wouldn't say they're essential - it's entirely up to the individual to have vaccinations as a precaution. As I said before, you shouldn't be travelling in any real "at risk" areas - just be sensible what you eat & drink!

 

Here's a link to vaccine information for Turkey:-

 

http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/travel/asia/turkey.shtml

 

Thanks for that. I have just realised that I have been to Istanbul a couple of times and not had vaccinations :o

[colbreg]

Can anyone advise if there are any vaccinations required for visiting eastern med countries. I am doing Adriatic Explorer and Pearls of the Aegean cruises.

 

We are visiting Turkey and are having tetanus booster, typhoid and hepatitus jabs next week :eek: I would rather have them than end up poorly on my holiday

[Keith Jackson]

We are visiting Turkey and are having tetanus booster, typhoid and hepatitus jabs next week :eek: I would rather have them than end up poorly on my holiday

 

I've never been advised to take a jab to stay in Greece,and I've been going there nearly 40 years - they aren't a 3rd world country you know - not sure about Turkey but a 4 hour visit is hardly dangerous I'd have thought - though seek medical advice to be sure - we're off to N Africa in Sept and we need jabs to go there,they are free at your local surgery [ in Wales they are anyway]

[kruzseeka]

Have you checked it out with your friend, Nell? Hope you have been reassured. We've done the Turkey/Greece and the Adriatic cruise without vaccinations although we have subsequently up-dated our vaccinations prior to a Caribbean trip. I think the second time we did this itinerary, there was a recommendation for the Tetanus, Polio and Hep jab (it's an all-in-one) for this cruise - but that might have been because of the stop in Montenegro which isn't on this year's itinerary.

 

If you haven't time to get a booster I would be reassured by the fact that Thomson's travel info says 'None' under Health Requirements. I know requirements is different from recommendations but risks are calculated by taking into account the length of stay in a country (very short on a cruise! :D) and the type of activity you are undertaking (wallowing around in tropical rain forests - not on this trip! :rolleyes:) . Provided you are sensible about what you do on shore -e.g.what you eat and drink I don't think you would need to be worried.

 

But hope you've had some reassurance and are still excited and on a roll for the 25th! ;)

[Little Nell]

Hi kruzseeka, thank you for your reassuring reply. My friend is notorious for not answering txts so I will speak to her when she gets home from work. I have filled out a form at the health centre where they have said they should be able to do something. I am awaiting a call back from them and will discuss it with them.

[Little Nell]

Have arranged to get vaccinations next week. No-one else in our party of 4 are going to bother. I probably wouldn't bother either but my tetanus is up in July anyway and might as well get them all done together. Means I will be covered for future cruises and I have a feeling I will want to do this itinerary again and the Black Sea on the celebration too.

[CRUISIN LINDA]

I don't understand about tetanus jabs. I was bitten by a dog (in England!) about 10 years ago and was given antibotics and a tetanus jab by my doctor and told to come back to see the nurse for a booster in a few weeks time. When I went back she said I didn't need one as I had had some previously and they now lasted for life. She said the doctors didn't know what they were talking about and were not up to date:eek:

 

Has the advice changed then?

 

BTW Kruzseeka, we spent two weeks in Montenegro last year and we didn't need jabs. I think it was cleaner there than lots of places in this country.:rolleyes:

 

We have never had any jabs for Europe of the Caribbean, although I was not allowed to donate blood for 6 months after visiting Jamaica on a cruise, as it is considered a Malaria Area, even though you are not told to take Malaria tablets:confused:

I'm not sure too many jabs are good for you although I wouldn't go to some parts of Africa without them, but basically on a cruise you are only visiting tourist areas. When I first visited Turkey, I was working in a hospital and asked one of the consultants if we needed jabs and she said only if you are backpacking in the interior of the country and not at the seaside resorts.:)

[essowner]

Lots of good advice thanks, after reading all advice and info i am not going to bother with vaccinations. Will be on my way next week :)