Malaria Mondays!
In preparation for my upcoming trip to the Dominican Republic, I went to the Travel Clinic to see what sort of delightful diseases I might come into contact with in the DR. I came away from the appointment with:
- hepatitis A vaccination – since I haven’t done much traveling, I’ve not been in the position to get this one before. This shot isn’t covered by public funding ((With the exception of, I believe, when someone who works in food preparation is found to have hep A – in that case, there is a hep A vaccination clinic for those who ate the food that person prepared. I remember a few years ago this happened when a local grocery store had one of these clinics after it was found that a person who made some salad dressing there has the disease)), so I had to pay $65 for this one and will have to go back in a year (I think) for the second shot (another $45) ((And this on top of the $40 consultation fee required to talk to the doc)).
- polio vaccination – apparently there have been cases of polio in Haiti, so this vaccination is offered to people going to the DR. And it’s free! ((My mom told me afterward that I had this one as a kid, but I couldn’t remember so I figured it was better to get it again rather than not get it and find out that I hadn’t had it before)).
- ciprofloxacin – an antibiotic to use in the case of travellers’ diarrhea
- chloroquine phosphate – an antimalarial drug. This drug has to be taken once a week, starting the week before the trip, continuing for the duration of the trip and for four weeks after your return. The travel clinic doctor suggesting starting my regimen today, which will make it easier to remember to take my pills on “Malaria Mondays”! ((My extended medical doesn’t cover vaccinations, but it does the drugs, so that’s good)).
In addition, there are recommendations about not using the tap water, even to brush your teeth and even if the resort says the water is purified, and to use DEET-containing mosquito repellent (even with the antimalarials, it’s still better not to get bitten by the mosquitoes, especially given that dengue virus, which is also passed on by mosquitoes and for which there isn’t a vaccination or drug to prevent it, is also a possibility in the DR).
Upon telling my mother about all this, she thinks we are crazy for going on this trip! But I’m thinking a relaxing week on the beach will make it all worth while!
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Tags: Dominican Republic, health, malaria, people who are cool enough to travel with me, travels, vaccinations
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No typhoid shot? Lucky you… I got that one before going to Cuba and it hurt like a mofo.
I got my hepA and hepB shots paid for by my former employer. At the time there was a chance I'd be doing the occasional stint in the lab, working with human blood. I got all the shots, never did do any lab work, and left for my current job soon thereafter. WIN!
Nope, no typhoid. Guess it's not a problem in the DR?
I only ever got to work with rat blood, so no hep shots for that (just tetanus). Hep B was covered when I was at UBC for all students, but hep A was only covered if you were traveling to an area where it is a problem, which I wasn't (had no money to travel as a student!). It appears that my current extended medical covers hep vaccines though, so I've submitted the receipt (fingers crossed!)