??? - about Yellow Fever Vaccination

[helpmesailaway]

We are planning to be in BA next Jan. 09 with a day at Iguazu Falls - the Argentinian side. Recently it is recommended to get a yellow fever vaccination on the Argentinian side. Due to certain conditions, it is unadvisable for my husband to get this vaccination.

 

Does anyone know whether these recommendations are ever rescinded?? I could make a hotel reservation and then cancel it if need be, but if this is a now and forever recommendation - it is no Fall for us!!:eek:

[greatam]

We are planning to be in BA next Jan. 09 with a day at Iguazu Falls - the Argentinian side. Recently it is recommended to get a yellow fever vaccination on the Argentinian side. Due to certain conditions, it is unadvisable for my husband to get this vaccination.

 

Does anyone know whether these recommendations are ever rescinded?? I could make a hotel reservation and then cancel it if need be, but if this is a now and forever recommendation - it is no Fall for us!!:eek:

 

Get a letter from your doc that YF is not advisable for DH. That will suffice. Carry if with you, along with vaccination record.

[helpmesailaway]

I saw that is an option but then I was concerned about the real threat of yellow fever. I think the possiblity is very small but due to a medical condition, it would be a disaster.

 

We could just walk around the falls on the footwalks, but I don't know if that would reduce exposure to mosquitios. I definitely wouldn't go on any jungle excursions.

[dfb]

Keep in mind that the mosquitos that you will encounter around the Falls, and you will encounter many even inside your luxury air-conditioned hotel room, will be carrying all kinds of diseases, not just yellow fever. For that reason, you will need to wear insect repellent and keep it on. We were just there and also wore the BuzzOff brand clothes with the insect repellent impregnated in the fabric. You are at risk and you need protection. That being said, if one cannot take the YFV, that is no reason not to use protection against insect bites. Go and be cautious and prudent and use bug repellent! Enjoy, Debbie

[helpmesailaway]

How did the bug repellant clothes work.???? Did you encounter many insects when you were there?

 

We were recently on a Panama Canal cruise - worried about mosquitos before we left. Never saw one!!!

[dfb]

BuzzOff clothes worked well along with DEET on us. The only bites any of the 3 of us got in 60 days around South America were from (2 people) carnivorous ants! and (1 person) bee stings! No mosquito bites though! I will say that when that big ant nest got disturbed that the BuzzOff clothes or direct and active spraying of 100% DEET never slowed them down. Cannot recommend the jungle hikes along the Amazon River!

 

We did see a lot of mosquitos on our entire trip. Saw lots of bugs in jungles in different areas, so you are wise to say you will avoid those. But, as said no one got a mosquito bite, only ants or bees! Also, there were unbelievable and aggressive swarms of biting horse flies at Petrohue Falls from Puerto Montt. As far as Iguazzu, the bee stings were there in the forest on the way to the small river boats that take you under the Falls. We did see a lot of mosquitos there, as stated even inside our AC room and definitely inside the non-AC public areas of Das Cataratas Hotel and at the outdoor/open to outdoors restaurants. Bug repellent was the order of the day and night at Iguazzu.

Debbie

[helpmesailaway]

I appreciate all this info. We may be able to see the Falls after all. I don't like pesticide but there are times when it is a necessity. Perhaps combining the bug proof clothes and Deet, we will be able to visit the Falls.

 

You have been so helpful but I have another question:D How comfortable were the bug proof clothes?? If we can safely sheild ourselves, I know this is a spectacular place to visit. I just need to eliminate any risk - as small as it might be for safe health issues.

 

Thank you again, Your trip must have been fantastic. I don't think the Amazon will ever be on our agenda!!!

[dfb]

The Buzz Off clothes are pretty comfortable. There a variety of styles available, which are pretty much just standard travel clothes made by a variety of clothing manufacturers that have permethrin-impregnated fabric. Most of the stuff is pretty light-weight and quick-dry. So, you could easily take along a small bottle of Woolite and just one complete outfit and wash it, hang overnight and go again the next day. I hope that you get to go to Iguazzu Falls, it is really just an amazing and mind-boggling place. Look for toucans! We saw toucans in the park on both sides, Brazil and Argentina and it was the only place that we saw them, not in the Amazon. They are most improbable, their beaks are so large that you can't believe they can fly and apparently they can't fly very far. Who knew?

 

Here are some links:

http://www.buzzoff.com/CMSContent/Default.aspx

 

http://www.exofficio.com/splash.aspx?page=LIST&category|buzzoff=BUZZ%20OFF9¢%20Clothing&canned_results_trigger=&category_id=buzzoff

 

 

Another possibility, is that most outdoors, camping-type stores sell a permethrin spray on product that allows you to treat clothing you already own. The difference is that when you spray it on yourself it is only good for 4-6 launderings as opposed to 25 for the impregnated fabric. See link below:

http://www.permethrin-repellent.com/

 

Good luck, Debbie

[dfb]

Oh, another possibility. One we saw in use, but did not know about beforehand. Here is a link to a full-body mosquito net outfit!

http://www.preparedness.com/mosclotcogbu.html

 

Here is a link to our journal entry for our day at the Falls. Just to whet your appetite!

http://journals.aol.com/dfriia/circle-south-america-2008-aboard/entries/2008/02/14/day-39---february-11-2008---iguazu-falls-brazil-and-argentina/1785

 

Oops! Here is a link to our day on the other side of the Falls.

http://journals.aol.com/dfriia/circle-south-america-2008-aboard/entries/2008/02/14/day-38---february-10-2008---rio-de-janeiro/1784

 

Debbie

[SoBaycruiser]

We went to Iguazu for 2 nights after our Jan 2008 SA/Antarctica cruise. We got the YF shots just as a precaution. They were CDC recommendations, not mandatory for return to the US. We weren't required to have the since our visit was at the end of the vacation and therefore there was NOT a question of entering other countries (like Urguay) after Iguazu. As it turned out, I really didn't see a whole lot of mosquitos. They come out in the evening and we were usually inside by then. However, during the day, walking around the falls, we wore 100% deet on exposed areas... again as a precaution.

 

I think you should determine what requirements will be made upon you after your visit to Iguazu and go from there.

[islandwoman]

We are planning to be in BA next Jan. 09 with a day at Iguazu Falls - the Argentinian side. Recently it is recommended to get a yellow fever vaccination on the Argentinian side. Due to certain conditions, it is unadvisable for my husband to get this vaccination.

 

Does anyone know whether these recommendations are ever rescinded?? I could make a hotel reservation and then cancel it if need be, but if this is a now and forever recommendation - it is no Fall for us!!:eek:

Vaccination recommendations and requirements can and do change depending upon where diseases are prevalent at any time.

 

Your husband might decide that he's willing to take the risk (with precautions) to his own health and a letter from his doctor should exempt him from the vaccination when entering into Brazil. But there is another issue. The countries that you'll be visiting after you visit Brazil could deny him entry because of the public health risk he could pose in case he was exposed to yellow fever while visiting Brazil. I suggest that you carefully research the entry requirements for everywhere you'll be traveling after Brazil.

 

[helpmesailaway]

Thank you everyone for your information. My husband will talk to his doctor and we'll see if the visit is possible with ALL of the precautions. We make look like walking mosquito nets!!!!

 

dfb - your journal is wonderful - what a fabulous trip.!!!

[NavCom]

We are planning to be in BA next Jan. 09 with a day at Iguazu Falls - the Argentinian side. Recently it is recommended to get a yellow fever vaccination on the Argentinian side. Due to certain conditions, it is unadvisable for my husband to get this vaccination. Does anyone know whether these recommendations are ever rescinded?? I could make a hotel reservation and then cancel it if need be, but if this is a now and forever recommendation - it is no Fall for us!!

 

We are planning to be there in Feb 09 and had similar questions and a similar problem getting the shots due to our age. We have been issued a "Certificate of Medical Contraindication to Vaccination" card to be kept with our WHO innoculations book (the US equivalent book actually has a page in the book for these contraindictation's).

 

Our concern was getting stopped and being forced to take the shot or being kept in quarintine for six days (both problematic and both entirely up to the admitting country). Our cruise is going from Fort Lauderdale to San Francisco, around South America. Our travel agent, our cruise carrier (Carnival), and our local consulates for both Brazil and Argentina all say "no problemo" and also all say we do not need the shots. We have one more call to make to the consulates to clarify documentation that must be presented when we cross the border in Iguazu but, at the moment, we are reasonably confident that we should not have any difficulty (we will feel much more comfortable if we are told they are not currently asking to see our vaccination certificates).

 

If you go to the US CDC site, they have a revised map that shows all of the South American ports-of-call to be in safe zones. Interestingly, Iguazu Falls is just inside the infection zone and yet nobody seems overly concerned. Is this because we are staying in hotels free of mosquitos and traveling in zodiac's that move faster than the little bugs <g>?

 

Regardless, we will be taking all of the usual mosquito precautions: long sleeve, light coloured shirts, mosquito spray with at least 30% deet and will bring along a head net tucked under our Tilly hats just in case <g>.

 

Jim

[scubapro48]

We've been to Iguazu without YF vaccine. Other SA countries only care if you came from an infected area--not coastal areas. I've had YF vaccine in the past--it is not an innocuous vaccine...(pun intended!) Major side effects! I'm not getting it for our upcoming trip round the Horn stopping in coastal Brazil and up the pacific coast!

[NavCom]

We've been to Iguazu without YF vaccine.

 

We agree with you completely in regard to the risk being too high for our age group. We have our official "yellow" rejection certificate and we have also received an e-mail from the Argentine consulate saying they will not require the certificate when crossing from Brazil to Argentina at Iguazu since we are flying in directly from a coastal city.

 

Jim