Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Asian Shots

Today, I went to the travel doctor for advice and immunizations for travelling in South-East Asia. Singapore is a clean, modern and urban place, meaning it's unlikely that you need any special vaccines to travel there. For the rest of South-East Asia, this is what I learned:

1) There are many types of anti-malarial drugs which are specific to strains of malaria found in different regions. These drugs may need to be started in advance to travel to said regions.

2) The only vaccine I needed was for typhoid. Typhoid is a drag, so I paid up for this.

3) The travel clinic recommends that everyone get their Hep. A and B immunizations, as well as being up to date on Tetanus/Diptheria/Polio. (Note that Nortel's health plan, unlike many, covers expensive Hepatitus immunizations, so do like me and get shots before getting laid off.)

4) If you're prone to being chased by wild dogs, there is a vaccine for rabies. Otherwise, you can get treated after an attack.

5) Plan ahead. Some immunizations require multiple needles over a period of time.