Yellow Fever Shot and Malaria Pills for Panama Canal Cruise

[broberts]

We are leaving on the Navigator in a couple of weeks and haven't made a decision about the shot and pills for Colombia and Guatemala. I would appreciate your thoughts because it seems that everyone who has been on a similar cruise did not get them for the half day excursions?

 

Consult a physician familiar with your medical history.

 

I have contracted malaria. My father has had yellow fever. (Neither contacted during a cruise.) Despite the very small chance of getting infected on an cruise excursion in Colombia or Guatemala, unless my doctor suggested otherwise I would elect to get the vaccination and take anti-malaria medication. For me, even a small risk is not worth taking given the down side.

[pf778c]

If you do decide to take a malaria prophlaxis, please be very, very leery of Lariam. It is known to cause serious side effects for almost all users. I was foolish enough to begin taking during a trip not too very long ago, without taking the precautions into consideration (I've never had a single issue with a prescription in the past, including other anti-malarials, and was "busy"), and almost ended up cutting my trip short due to the horror I was going through. That said, I did NOT take anything during my cruise through the Panama Canal, nor in Honduras or Guatemala, as I did not feel I'd be exposed to enough risk in the specific locales I would be visiting at the times I'd be visiting.

[whoopie]

When you say ship I assume you mean Regent. Did they send you something or did they tell you this in a phone conversation?

 

I think it is on the website for our cruise, and they told the Travel Agent.

[susietb]

There is an article in the Travel Section of the NYTIMES(Sunday June4) on Costa Rica, which now requires air travelers entering the country to have proof of Yellow Fever vaccination.

 

This seems to be a new new development in this region. Perhaps, checking with the CDC might be a good idea

[Travelcat2]

According to the CDC (Center for Disease Control) there may still be shortage of Yellow Fever Vaccine and it needs to be ordered quite a bit in advance (This article is from 2015 but it remains on the website today -- the information regarding the outbreak is of April 2017 -- https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/news-announcements/yellow-fever-vaccine-shortage-2016 ). There is currently an active outbreak in Brazil. Hopefully, people going to places that don't really need it will not further deplete the supply.

 

For those of us that cannot have the vaccine, the CDC recommends spraying "permethrin" on your clothing. DEET is also strongly recommended.

[RachelG]

We did take malaria prophylaxis for our Panama Canal cruise, but only because we were going on an excursion in the jungle in Guatemala. Probably didn't need to as there was not a mosquito to be found. I see no need for yellow fever vaccine in this region on a cruise, but the new Coata Rica rule for vaccine is interesting. We have been to Costa Rica many times and never had to have one.

[powlan]

In a recent post I said that I'd be taking malaria pills and DEET. After speaking with my physician's Travel Department, and reading this board, I've decided to just wear long sleeve shirts. (oh yes, and pants). :)

[Travelcat2]

In a recent post I said that I'd be taking malaria pills and DEET. After speaking with my physician's Travel Department, and reading this board, I've decided to just wear long sleeve shirts. (oh yes, and pants). :)

 

Good to hear that you will be wearing pants:D. On a more serious note, as has been mentioned previously, please be careful in terms of malaria pills as some of them make you really sick.

[drcandon]

I know you folks are not Canadian, however our Canuck Gov travel site is quite good and its recommendations are current..

 

https://travel.gc.ca/travelling/health-safety/diseases/yellow-fever

[Travelcat2]

Good recommendations and easy site to read. The big problem is that there are many people that have been specifically told not to have the vaccination. I read how to pre-treat your clothing prior to visiting the Amazon which we will do. For anyone considering doing this, your wet clothing needs to dry fully before your cats get anywhere near them. (apparently dogs are okay but I would not trust small dogs around treated wet clothing as it is far better to be safe than sorry) As a cat family, we will likely keep our "treated" clothing outside - far away from our fur babies.

 

This morning I ordered a hat with mosquito net for my DH - covering his face and neck as well. For myself I ordered the same type of net but will use it will a hat that I have yet to choose. For any of you going into the jungle on your Panama Canal trip, this is a good alternative to the Yellow Fever vaccination.

 

P.S. Don't forget to treat your socks and I'm wondering about treating shoes as well. Since it might be muddy, I will pack shoes that I plan on throwing out).

[liptastic]

I don't know if this will be of any interest , Craghoppers clothing and outdoor equipment have a range of clothing called Nosilife insect repellent material.

I have not tried that range but we both wear a few of their other range of clothing and they are very good quality and hard wearing. Jean.

[Travelcat2]

I don't know if this will be of any interest , Craghoppers clothing and outdoor equipment have a range of clothing called Nosilife insect repellent material.

I have not tried that range but we both wear a few of their other range of clothing and they are very good quality and hard wearing. Jean.

 

We wore clothing that was pre-medicated for our last African cruise. The clothing was expensive and we gave it away after the cruise (not such a good idea in hindsight). You can pre-medicate your clothing with Permethrin for about $20 (this is the approximate price for a gallon. You can "do it yourself" using 6 oz. of Permethrin for every top, pants and socks that you treat). I prefer this method as I can treat my own clothing!

[powlan]

Three safaris, wore Ex Officio and BuzzOff from Orvis and had no trouble with the tse-tse flys. If I remember correctly, the clothing takes about 24 washes. Wore shirts and pants that zippered into shorts a hat with ear flaps and socks . I thought I looked kind of dorky but there were many other travelers wearing the same type of clothing. FYI Women's clothing also came in different styles and colors. I may take some of the long sleeve shirts on this cruise.

[Travelcat2]

Three safaris, wore Ex Officio and BuzzOff from Orvis and had no trouble with the tse-tse flys. If I remember correctly, the clothing takes about 24 washes. Wore shirts and pants that zippered into shorts a hat with ear flaps and socks . I thought I looked kind of dorky but there were many other travelers wearing the same type of clothing. FYI Women's clothing also came in different styles and colors. I may take some of the long sleeve shirts on this cruise.

 

You hit the nail on the head. The Ex Officio clothing that I purchased was definitely "dorky" which is why I will be treating my own clothing. While it will only last a few washings, that is really all that we need it to do. Also, the hats with the mosquito netting covers more than hats with flaps (according to what it says on the website -- I won't receive this until next week). The hat with netting also appears cooler than the other type.

 

Lots of good ideas on this thread!

 

P.S. I think that it is important to remember that we did not take anything on our Panama Canal cruise - not an immunization or pills as they really were not needed. The precautions I'm talking about are for Africa and the Amazon but it sounds as if some people want to take every precaution for the Panama Canal. There is nothing wrong with that - as long as you aren't taking something that will cause you to be ill.

[Keith1010]

Three safaris, wore Ex Officio and BuzzOff from Orvis and had no trouble with the tse-tse flys. If I remember correctly, the clothing takes about 24 washes. Wore shirts and pants that zippered into shorts a hat with ear flaps and socks . I thought I looked kind of dorky but there were many other travelers wearing the same type of clothing. FYI Women's clothing also came in different styles and colors. I may take some of the long sleeve shirts on this cruise.

 

We used this clothing too on Safaris and in areas where there are lots of insects. It worked perfectly. I believe it actually lasts for 100 or so washes. We would wash it on the ship too so we had it for other times.

 

We would put the clothing inside plastic to keep it from touching our regular clothing. Once on board the ship we would leave it in our luggage under the bed until we needed it for those days we were in areas where it would be required. Once that part of the trip was finished we washed the clothing, placed it back in plastic and packed it in the suitcase.

 

It worked great and we have it to use in the future.

 

Keith

[jrtgal]

I don't know if this will be of any interest , Craghoppers clothing and outdoor equipment have a range of clothing called Nosilife insect repellent material.

I have not tried that range but we both wear a few of their other range of clothing and they are very good quality and hard wearing. Jean.

 

I have Craghoppers Nosilife insect repellent pants and they are great! I would highly recommend them.

[jrtgal]

Don't worry.....We did the whole Amazon, no malaria shots (yellow fever shots were required). Unless you are spending overnight in the jungle, just coat yourself with DEET . We have done Panama several times.. Never had shots at all, not even yellow fever.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Beware the Yellow Fever Shot! Due to my travel requirements, I had the yellow fever shot. The following day, I felt fine but, OMG, the next day.... my total body ached and I experienced bouts of feeling nauseous over a period of several hours. Ugh!

[rcandkc]

Be careful. Depends on age, health, and the big thing...live or dead vaccine. I cannot take ANY live vaccine because due to my RA biological drugs that reduce my immune system it would give me that disease. We went from Miami to San Diego a couple years ago. We got no special vaccines. I did not go deep in the jungle though.

[Travelcat2]

I also cannot take the Yellow Fever vaccination. Just a reminder that going through the Panama Canal does not require the vaccination. It is "required" for the Amazon unless your doctor writes a letter stating that you it is contraindicated.

[brunitou]

I'm from Venezuela. I live in Colombia,I travel once a month for a whole week to Panama, those three countries arent under Malaria or Yellow Fever.

 

For none of them migration demands to apply vaccines, you will be ok ;)

[warburg]

We are leaving on the Navigator in a couple of weeks and haven't made a decision about the shot and pills for Colombia and Guatemala. I would appreciate your thoughts because it seems that everyone who has been on a similar cruise did not get them for the half day excursions?

 

Hello, physady. My DH and I have done the Canal in both directions, and have another one planned for March 2019 on Explorer. The Panama Canal trip is wonderful For our last one on Oceania's Insignia in 2015, we got malaria pills and took them for one day in each place because we didn't see even a single mosquito. A shot was not available at our travel medicine center, and our doctor didn't recommend it anyway. By the way, other than the dictum in the travel docs, no one said a word about this on board. I can understand that cruise lines don't want passengers returning from cruises with malaria. If people do catch it, the lines can say they were warned. Enjoy your cruise.

[Travelcat2]

I'm from Venezuela. I live in Colombia,I travel once a month for a whole week to Panama, those three countries arent under Malaria or Yellow Fever.

 

For none of them migration demands to apply vaccines, you will be ok ;)

 

Agree with you. Taking shots and pills with severe side effects when they are not required is, IMO, putting yourself at unnecessary risk. We did not take malaria pills on our Panama Canal cruise (not recommended or required) and not even on our South Africa cruise as they were only recommended for one port that we didn't want to visit anyway. We also aren't going to take them for our Amazon cruise because posts from the the last two sailings to the area indicated no mosquitos. However, I am taking precautions (Deet, hat with a mosquito net that can be lowered to cover your face and neck, etc.).

[ronrick1943]

Just saying we've taken 3 canal cruises and never had a problem---no shots. Just take care as any other place. I didn't even spray. Always check with your doctor he/she will know whats best for you.

[visagrunt]

If Cartagena is your only stop in Colombia, you're probably fine (Bogota and Cartagena are the only places in Colombia with no malaria, according to CDC).

 

For Guatemala, Antingua and Guatemala City are also malaria free. In theory the port area might have some cases, but prophylaxis might limited to mosquito avoidance.

 

Best option: have a chat with your doctor.