Immunizations

[floridababa]

Has anyone thought about immunizations to travel to Asia?

I have spoken to several health professionals and of course they are suggesting

Hep A Hep B Yellow Fever Malaria and Typhoid.

I am sure they want to make money as these are all super expensive and not covered by insurance.

What do we really NEED to get?

Cruise line says proof of vaccinations but does not say and won't commit to any.

This is super confusing.

Does anyone know??

Thanks

[Gwendy]

Depends a lot on where you are going and what you are doing. On a cruise you will be visiting towns and cities not venturing into the interior of these countries. Also you will be eating on the ship or at restaurants on land. If you do eat street food make sure you see it cooked and see lots of heat and steam.

Check health dept web site for their info. I have been to Asia a number of times with only the influenza injection and have had no issues.

[BruceMuzz]

I have worked on ships sailing all over asia for the past 35 years.

Never have I received or wanted to have any special injections.

I did contract the flu from some passengers a few years back.

That's all.

[floridababa]

When we booked cruise with Princess. They told my husband that he needed to bring proof of vaccinations. No one wants to give straight answers

Then we don't have to get any shots to go to Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, South Korea, China, Taiwan, Japan is that correct?

[John Bull]

It's wise to be up-to-date with your hep A/B and typhoid anyway.

 

YF inoculations / certificates are to protect the folk you come into contact with because it's quite contagious. I'm not aware of any SE Asian country which requires a YF certificate (or exemption certificate) other than for travellers who have visited high-risk countries, such as parts of Brazil, in the previous ten days.

 

There's no jab for malaria = for that it's a course of tabs. plus repellent sprays & suitable clothing. Recommended for some SE Asian inland destinations but, as Gwendy's response, not for the usual cruise ship ports.

 

Advice on cruise line websites tends to be so general as to be useless, but correspondence specific to your cruise needs to be taken more seriously - especially re any mandatory inoculation.

 

Did the health professionals ask about your ages and health history?

About your ports, rather than just countries?

Whether you'll be travelling inland on excursions?

Whether your ship will be overniting in port?

Whether you will be overniting ashore (eg hotels for cruise start or finish, or sometimes mid-cruise)?

If they didn't ask these sort of questions, they're salesmen & not health professionals. :rolleyes:

 

JB :)

[Hoyaheel]

I've had everything I can possibly have, so...If I had needed more for our Asia cruise, I would have obtained them. I love immunizations:D

 

I checked the CDC traveler information - they DO show differences by rural area vs cities in countries. https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel

 

Mosquitos love me, so I always worry about malaria and dengue (in Asia). Since there's no preventive for dengue (and malaria not so prevalent in Asian cities) I just made sure to bring DEET to keep away the skeeters.

 

Travel medicine is different from other kinds of medicine. I tend to know more about it than my primary care doc - she just reads from the CDC website. But I work in global health, I know to visit travel medicine clinics when necessary (and I also talk to my boss, an infectious disease doc who works internationally)

 

Have fun!

[calliopecruiser]

Has anyone thought about immunizations to travel to Asia?

I have spoken to several health professionals and of course they are suggesting

Hep A Hep B Yellow Fever Malaria and Typhoid.

I am sure they want to make money as these are all super expensive and not covered by insurance.

What do we really NEED to get?

Cruise line says proof of vaccinations but does not say and won't commit to any.

This is super confusing.

Does anyone know??

Thanks

 

You should always be up to date on your Hepatitis vaccines anyway, even at home.

 

As for other vaccines --- it depends on where in Asia you're going, as well as when. And it also depends if you will be going further afield than the port city (eg traveling a week in Vietnam after your cruise).

 

The CDC has a travelers' heath information site that recommends vaccines and other health safety measures for different countries, so you can select the ones that apply to you: https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/destinations/list

[floridababa]

Thank you for all of your comments and advice.

I will be in Singapore, Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh City, Xiamen- China, Hong Kong, Taipei, Tokyo, Osaka, Icheon and Shanghai.

Health professionals want to sell me:

Hep A and B

Yellow fever

Typhoid

Malaria

 

Of course insurance only covers Hep A.

 

I will get if it is needed but I don't want to if it is not necessary.

In Singapore and Shanghai we will be in a hotel for 2 nights (pre and post cruise)

The cruise tours don't take us anywhere that is not developed.

Any more comments would be oh so greatly appreciated.

Thanks all

[calliopecruiser]

 

I will get if it is needed but I don't want to if it is not necessary.

 

Vaccines are like insurance -- they're not "necessary" unless something bad happens. Home insurance isn't needed either, but most people will recommend you insuring your property and belongings.

 

Only you can decide how you feel about the risk of getting one of those diseases, and whether or not if something bad does happen (you get hepatitis, or yellow fever, or malaria, etc) what that would mean to you and your life.

Edited January 29, 2017 by calliopecruiser
grammar

[Karennella]

Well you surely would not need anything for spotlessly clean Singapore. But when we went to South America my doctor ordered different vaccinations from my husband's doctor. And our friends had different ones again. As you have said, they look at a website (maybe different websites) Our guide in South America assured us that on our particular tour we required nothing. But we needed YF certificates or exemptions to get back into Australia.

What I do now is google e.g. the number of cases of malaria in Sabah last year and that helps me make a decision.

But the sickest I have ever been when travelling was in Maui when I came down with local flu.Cant entirely avoid that.

Edited January 30, 2017 by Karennella

[Hoyaheel]

But when we went to South America my doctor ordered different vaccinations from my husband's doctor. And our friends had different ones again.

 

It's entirely possible that you, your husband, and your friends all have different risk factors as well. That's why having these discussions with a health care provider is really a better option than inviting opinions on a travel related internet message board :p

 

We can tell our opinions and provide resources that might assist, like the CDC website, but there are going to be conflicting recommendations and in the absence of country entrance requirements, the OP is going to have to decide on his/her own.....

 

Also, "spotlessly clean" Singapore still has disease. Dengue, chickungunya, foot & mouth, regular infectious diseases.... https://www.moh.gov.sg/content/moh_web/home/statistics/infectiousDiseasesStatistics/weekly_infectiousdiseasesbulletin.html

 

There is disease everywhere. Fact of life.

Edited January 30, 2017 by Hoyaheel

[SpokaneDan]

Thank you for all of your comments and advice.

I will be in Singapore, Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh City, Xiamen- China, Hong Kong, Taipei, Tokyo, Osaka, Icheon and Shanghai.

Health professionals want to sell me:

Hep A and B

Yellow fever

Typhoid

Malaria

Outside of Malaria - Malaria, really? The others vaccine are the maximum protection you could ask for, but do you need them all? I just completed a similar cruise itin. as yours, and read CDC's guidelines. I got typhoid (oral type), and my Hep A is up to date, b/c I enjoy eating street, local food - both infections are foodborne. Looking back, I am not even sure if typhoid is really necessary.

Singarpore, Japan, Korea, HK and Taiwan have very high standard of public health.

While CDC mentioned Yellow Fever (really depend on the exposure to mosquitos), cruising and visiting big cities really put it at very low risk.

Hep B is a blood born/body fluid transmitted infection, most Americans are up to date (part of childhood immunization), but only in health care working settings would we demand verification of immunization. Cruise pax getting that on a regular tour? Very low risk.

No country asked for immunization record during my travel (did not visit Japan/Korea), and Celebrity for sure did not require any such thing.

I don't want to down play the risk of infection, but I agree with your suspicion that the travel clinic's recommendation is a bit overkill.

[calliopecruiser]

Outside of Malaria - Malaria, really?

Does that mean you don't think it's serious, or you don't think it's common?

[SpokaneDan]

I have to look up CDC's website on malaria just to make sure. I think it's down right irresponsible for the travel clinic to recommend Malaria prophylaxis given the itinerary. Malaria only recommended for rural Vietnam, not for HCM. In Bangkok, it's mentioned as rare to few cases, the whole of China is listed as very low, not to mention in the bustling Xiamen and Shanghai.

 

Malaria prophylaxis is extremely crucial when called for, but most anti-malarial have potential side effects, b/c travelers sometimes have to take for up 28 days after they finish their trip. They are not your over counter multivitamins, and have to be used in correct setting. The most well tol. malarial pills (eg, Malaron) tend to be very expensive (in US anyway).

 

I am all for prophylaxis, but benefit has to clearly outweight risks. My typhoid pills has clearly stated potential side effects, and only 50% effectiveness. The decision to take it was not a simple one. One poster above mentioned it's ultimately up to the individual making informed decision.

[ano]

If you search, you can easily find the vaccinations recommended for the places you visit, but research why they are recommended. It most cases you won't need any vaccines, but may are for food and waterborne illnesses, so you want to be careful what you eat or drink. Places like Vietnam may not have a safe water supply, at least safe by our standards.