Take a Second Look at Vaccinations

[chicagolass]

My DH and I are cruising the Panama Canal next Spring.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

(CDC) some vaccinations are recommended for travelers to

Mexico and Central America and include:

Mexico, Belize, Honduras, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua,

El Salvador, and Guatemala. One of the vaccinations

recommended is for protection and prevention of contacting

Hepatitis A or Immune Globulin (IG).

 

It is very relevant because it is associated with direct person

to person contact; through exposure to contaminated water, ice,

or shellfish harvested in contaminated water; or from fruits an

vegetables and other foods. Contaminated food and waterbourne

diseases are the primary cause of Travelers' Diarrhea (TD).

It's difficult to separate the causes of Montezuma's Revenge,

and Norovirus from Hepatitis A

 

Common sense dictates that because we will be eating a great deal

of food and visiting these ports where we will be eating and drinking

that we should take extra precautions. You may want to take a second

lookat such precautions and preventions gained from getting a vaccine.

 

Thus, as important as it is, we won't be just relying on sanitizing

our hands or on the ship being santized to protect our health.

We'll be getting our vaccinations for Hepatitis A.

[norbert]

Hi,

now you can get one vaccination protecting you against Hepatitis A and Hepatitis B.

Have a nice cruise.

[Jumbie]

One of the vaccinations recommended is for protection and prevention of contacting Hepatitis A or Immune Globulin (IG).

 

I think you misread or misunderstood something.

 

I highly doubt that there is a vaccine against IgG (Immunoglobulin G) which is one of the gammoglobulins and part of your body's immune defense mechanism.

 

A positive titer of IgG is an indication that you have antibodies against a disease/organism and can indicate either a past or current infection, or a successful vaccination.

 

It is very relevant because it is associated with direct person

to person contact; through exposure to contaminated water, ice,

or shellfish harvested in contaminated water; or from fruits an

vegetables and other foods.

 

HepA is primarily fecal-oral in transmission so think bad hygiene e.g. not washing hands after using the bathroom. Indeed, it's often passed on by infected food-handlers.

 

Contaminated food and waterbourne diseases are the primary cause of Travelers' Diarrhea (TD).

 

I think you mean food and waterbourne organisms as a disease is generally not responsible for TD.

 

It's difficult to separate the causes of Montezuma's Revenge

 

Usually caused by E. coli rather than Hepatitis.

 

Common sense dictates that because we will be eating a great deal

of food and visiting these ports where we will be eating and drinking

that we should take extra precautions. You may want to take a second

lookat such precautions and preventions gained from getting a vaccine.

 

Thus, as important as it is, we won't be just relying on sanitizing

our hands or on the ship being santized to protect our health.

We'll be getting our vaccinations for Hepatitis A.

 

Always good advice, but be aware that vaccinations need some time to confer immunity/protection. If you're leaving for your cruise in two weeks, getting vaccinated isn't going to do you much good (although will be beneficial for the future) as you need two injections 6 months apart.

 

Also, HepA isn't likely to affect you while on your cruise as the average incubation period is 28 days, but may vary from 15–50 days. In other words, from the time you get infected to the time you start to show symptoms is quite long.

 

In general, a person is most infectious from 14–21 days before the onset of symptoms, through to 7 days after the onset of symptoms.

 

The good news is that HepA is self-limiting and generally not as big a deal as getting HepB or C which can lead to liver cirrhosis and/or cancer.

 

Happy cruising!

[tuggers]

Yes there is a combo shot but I was advised that the two seperate shots were still preferable. Since I travel quite a lot, I also have had yellow fever shot.

Always good to be prepared for those last minute specials!!

[Leela]

I travel a lot and got myself "Twinrix," which is a Hepatitus A + B shot. You have to take a series of three of them. I forget what the spacings on them are, but once you take the first two you are covered for the short term, and once you take all three you are good for 10 years.

 

I'm so glad I did this because the week after I got the 2nd shot, there was a big Hepatitus A outbreak in Pennsylvania that was traced back to food at a Chillis or a Chevvys (I forget which). I think two people died. Turned out there was a problem with contamination in a shipment of green onions.

 

The nurse giving me the shot told me that Hep A+B is now on the list of shots recommended for all infants in the USA, due to the rise of food-borne illnesses in this country alone over the past few years.

[Jumbie]

I travel a lot and got myself "Twinrix," which is a Hepatitus A + B shot. You have to take a series of three of them. I forget what the spacings on them are, but once you take the first two you are covered for the short term, and once you take all three you are good for 10 years.

Generally the second and third are taken 1 month and 6 months after the first.

[chicagolass]

Hi Jumbie,

 

OOPS! It's in the Spring of 2007 that we're going to the

Panama Canal.

 

Thanks for the extra medical input. I took mine off the CCD website.

Check it out. It's probably more in layman's terms.

[Jumbie]

Hi Jumbie,

 

OOPS! It's in the Spring of 2007 that we're going to the Panama Canal.

 

Enjoy your cruise.

 

I took mine off the CCD website. Check it out.

 

Took a quick look around but not sure exactly where you got the information from. I'm probably looking in a slightly different area than the "layman" would.

 

It's probably more in layman's terms.

 

Probably as that would be the best way to get the message across instead of tossing around complicated terms that confuse the hell out of me at times. :)

 

My one issue is the "IgG vaccine". The way you described it makes it sound like you want a vaccination against IgG (honest mistake) while IgG would actually be used as a treatment for Hepatitis instead and is a normal part of our immune system in healthy people.

 

I agree that it's a good idea to get the vaccination, but again, not a huge problem if you don't. I do think that everyone should go for a HepB vaccine though because you really, really don't want to get that...

 

Stupid viruses!!!!! *grumble*

[chicagolass]

Hi Jumbie,

The Center for Disease Control states: Hepatitis A or Immune Globulin (IG).

To me, this means that both names are interchangeable. Therefore,

another name for HepA is IG.

 

Here, I haven't mentioned the HepB vaccine only HepA.

since it relates more to contact with contaminated food and water

rather than with blood and body fluids,etc. The viruses, bacteria,

or parasites which are found throughout these regions cause

many travelers to get the bad infections that lead to TD, etc.

However, after reading this response from you, and the others

from Tuggers and Leela I believe we will go for both vaccines.

 

The CDC website has the info under the--Travelers Health

Information for Mexico and Central America.

http://Http://www.cdcgov/travel/cameri.com

 

P.S. Louis Pasteur, et al. certainly earn our respect and

gratitude for their insightful discoveries in immunology

and microbiology for mankind.

Again, thank you.

[Jumbie]

I believe the correct link is http://www.cdc.gov/travel/camerica.htm

 

Had to poke around for that.

 

I read what they said which was:

 

The following vaccines may be recommended for your travel to Mexico and Central America. Discuss your travel plans and personal health with a health-care provider to determine which vaccines you will need.

 

Hepatitis A or immune globulin (IG). Transmission of hepatitis A virus can occur through direct person-to-person contact; through exposure to contaminated water, ice, or shellfish harvested in contaminated water; or from fruits, vegetables, or other foods that are eaten uncooked and that were contaminated during harvesting or subsequent handling.

 

In other words, the Haptitis A or IG vaccine.

 

You can get pre-formed IgG as a protective measure but it will be temporary on a per trip basis and will not provide any kind of long term benefit. I believe that they are indicating you can get IgG as a vaccine (which is not technically correct) and that may be confusing as is obviously evident. Once it is out of your system, you will be susceptible to Hep A again (IgG is formed as antibodies against a wide range of diseases/antigens but you need specific ones for each).

 

I guarantee you that "IG" is absolutely NOT another name for Hepatitis.

I'm not a doctor, but I am a 2nd year medical student who has done both Immunology and Microbiology and am currently doing Pathology.

 

Please do a google search for "Immunoglobulin G" (include the quotation marks as it will search for it as a full phrase). Or you could search for IgG. This should clear it up beyond simply my word as I understand that the CDC is obviously a recognized authority/resource as compared with some stranger on the internet i.e. me.

[chicagolass]

Hi Jumbie,

Isn't this fun! I'll take your word on it and thank you.

You clarified HepA or IG for me. You point out that

the statements made by CDC are not technically correct

It assumes, I take it, that the reader does deduce.

 

For brevity's sake, I intentionally left out "... that are

eaten uncooked and that were contaminated during

harvesting or subsequent handling," because my main

point was made in the prior sentences.

 

I spent many happy years in Wisconsin and am an alumna of its

fine University. Wishing you every success and happiness in your

medical career and in your life.