Bermuda vaccines

[Smallfamily]

I was surprised to read Hep A & B, typhoid and rabies are recommended. Are these really necessary? We do plan to hike and go into the caves. Thanks

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[jollyjones]

No they are not needed.

 

Where did you find this recommendation? We do not have rabies or typhoid on the island - the risks associated with the immunisations totally outweigh any possible benefits unless you have a significant risk of exposure.

 

On the other hand, hep A is a useful immunisation for any traveller - you are not at particularly greater risk in Bermuda than anywhere else you travel, but it's a relatively safe vaccine and lasts for ten years if you have a booster shot within one year of the first shot - I have had the hep A because I think the risk/benefit ratio is favourable.

 

Hep B is a fairly safe vaccine and may have a favourable risk/benefit ratio depending on your lifestyle but the choice is up to you, there is certainly no need to have the immunisation just because you're coming to Bermuda.

[Smallfamily]

Someone attached the cdc bermuda recommendations link to a roll call. I was really surprised to see it. There was also a lot of discussion about the water not being safe for snorkeling (our favorite thing to do).

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[sebas030]

No they are not needed.

 

Where did you find this recommendation? We do not have rabies or typhoid on the island - the risks associated with the immunisations totally outweigh any possible benefits unless you have a significant risk of exposure.

 

On the other hand, hep A is a useful immunisation for any traveller - you are not at particularly greater risk in Bermuda than anywhere else you travel, but it's a relatively safe vaccine and lasts for ten years if you have a booster shot within one year of the first shot - I have had the hep A because I think the risk/benefit ratio is favourable.

 

Hep B is a fairly safe vaccine and may have a favourable risk/benefit ratio depending on your lifestyle but the choice is up to you, there is certainly no need to have the immunisation just because you're coming to Bermuda.

 

I agree with you totally !

 

SmallFamily, maybe you read something for the vaccines because of the "beach situation" this year ?

 

.

[jollyjones]

I had a look at the CDC website and was quite shocked at how wrong they are - I suspect that we have been lumped in with the whole Caribbean, or possibly Central America.

 

We don't have a clinical problem with rabies present in our bats, this is supported by this website:

http://www.hpa.org.uk/web/HPAweb&HPAwebStandard/HPAweb_C/1259152458758

And this from the CDC's own website:

http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/yellowbook/2014/chapter-3-infectious-diseases-related-to-travel/rabies

 

And it's pretty clear that the typhoid warning is just generic (again, probably from the caribbean and/or central america) when it talks about "visiting smaller cities or rural areas" - the island is way too small to have such things - we have one city, one town and two villages, and no real "rural areas" at all.

 

And just to confirm it's generic - further down the CDC page in the section about medical care and which prescription drugs are legal here, there is a hyperlink to the "Bermuda Embassy" in the US, which doesn't exist since we're not an independent nation.

 

Whilst we sort of get used to people thinking we are in the Caribbean, this is just ridiculous.

Edited July 7, 2014 by jollyjones

[Smallfamily]

Thank you for looking into that for me. It did make us a little nervous we travel a lot and the only thing our dr ever recommended was hep A and a tetanus booster.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums