Vaccines and Health Info

Here is a list of vaccines that are recommended for the areas we'll be traveling to:

Measles/Mumps/Rubella - Two doses recommended for all travelers born after 1956, if not previously given

Tetanus-Diptheria - Revaccination recommended every 10 years

Polio - Recommended for adult travelers who have received a primary series with either inactivated poliovirus vaccine (IPV) or oral polio vaccine (OPV). They should receive another dose of IPV before departure. For adults, available data do not indicate the need for more than a single lifetime booster dose with IPV.

Typhoid - Vaccination recommended for all travelers at least 10 days before travel

Hepatitis A - Vaccination recommended for all travelers - 2 weeks before travel

Hepatitis B - Vaccination recommended for all travelers, especially those who may come into contact with bodily fluids - 2 months before travel

Yellow fever - Required for all travelers greater than one year of age arriving from a yellow-fever-infected area in Africa or the Americas. Not recommended otherwise. CDC yellow fever vaccination recommendation for travelers to Tanzania/Kenya/Ethiopia is for all travelers ≥9 months of age. Many countries require travelers arriving from countries where yellow fever is present to present proof of yellow fever vaccination. Vaccination should be given 10 days before travel and at 10 year intervals if there is on-going risk. See: http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/yellowbook/2010/chapter-2/yellow-fever.aspx#823

Meningococcal meningitis -Not required except for Ethiopia; recommended if you plan to visit countries that experience epidemics of meningococcal disease during December through June (see map).

Tuberculosis - Vaccination sometimes recommended 3 months before travel

Rabies -1 month before travel - Only recommended for certain travelers, including:

• travelers with high occupational risks, such as veterinarians
• long-term travelers and expatriates living in areas with a high risk of exposure
• travelers involved in any activities that might bring them into direct contact with bats, carnivores, and other mammals, such as wildlife professionals, researchers, veterinarians, or adventure travelers visiting areas where bats, carnivores, and other mammals are commonly found

Cholera - Vaccination sometimes recommended - 2 weeks before travel

Japanese encephalitis - Vaccination recommended for travelers who may spend a month or more in rural areas and for short-term travelers who may spend substantial time outdoors in rural areas, especially after dusk - 1 month before travel

Malaria info

How to choose a malaria drug: http://www.cdc.gov/malaria/travelers/drugs.html

I think we'll go with doxycycline.

To prevent insect/mosquito bites, bring:

• Lightweight long-sleeved shirts, long pants, and a hat to wear outside, whenever possible.
• Flying-insect spray to help clear rooms of mosquitoes. The product should contain a pyrethroid insecticide; these insecticides quickly kill flying insects, including mosquitoes.
• Bed nets treated with permethrin, if you will not be sleeping in an air-conditioned or well-screened room and will be in malaria-risk areas. For use and purchasing information, see Insecticide Treated Bed Nets on the CDC malaria site. Overseas, permethrin or another insecticide, deltamethrin, may be purchased to treat bed nets and clothes.

Other CDC Recommendations

• Medicine for diarrhea, usually over-the-counter.
• Iodine tablets and portable water filters to purify water if bottled water is not available. See A Guide to Water Filters, A Guide to Commercially-Bottled Water and Other Beverages, and Safe Food and Water for more detailed information.
• Sunblock and sunglasses for protection from harmful effects of UV sun rays. See Basic Information about Skin Cancer for more information.
• Antibacterial hand wipes or alcohol-based hand sanitizer containing at least 60% alcohol.