CDC Warning Re: Diphtheria

[dolliesny]

If I am not mistaken isn't the keyword here recommends? These are not required are they?

Thanks,Valerie

[stanj]

If I am not mistaken isn't the keyword here recommends? These are not required are they?

Thanks,Valerie

 

Valerie

You are right, CDC often posts recommendations which are overly cautious and cause a lot of concern when it really is not a problem. No where in Europe or Russia are vaccinations required coming into or coming from. These are First World countries with universal health systems so requirements for vaccinations were dropped many years ago by the State Dept because the threat is so low. There are plenty of places in the world that such warnings should be paid attention to, however.

 

The Scandinavian ports are cleaner and healther in environment and water that your home town, no matter where you live. Water purity regulations throughout Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland are much more stringent than in the US, the cities are very clean. Russia on the other hand is spotty on water purity in large cities and industrial centers and some of the world's best and purist water and air in more remote areas. St Petersburg has the worst water of the large industrial cities in Russia ( but still better than large cities in many countries) The answer that keeps people safe is bottled water, it is cheap and everywhere you look so even there it is a non-issue. Recent legislation requires that all industrial facilities are to be moved out of St Petersburg over the next few years with the city replacing city land with better suited land outside the city, with the newly build plants being required to meet very tight modern safety and environmental standards, sort of starting with a clean slate. Obviously that was good news for those visiting and living in the city in the next few years. Before WWII St Peterburg was the largest manufacturing center in the country.

[Globaliser]

IIRC, diphtheria is still a problem in Russia. Your exposure risk is pretty low on a one-day or two-day stop, but you'd want to weigh that up.

 

As for the others, my travel clinic advises me that I really shouldn't travel as far as my office without tetanus, polio, hep A and typhoid. And once you've got them, you're covered for the recommendations for most places anyway.