vaccines for travel to India *updated*

[momofmine]

I have a question about vaccines for travel to India. Our wonderful babysitter is going to India, and is getting a ton of shots before she goes. Do I need to be concerned about any of these shedding, etc, being around my kids? I am not sure even what she is getting, or if they are live or not. One I know is typhoid fever. I looked this up and it says there are two vaccines for typhoid fever. It says the one that is oral is live. But the one that is intramuscular it doesn't say. So I'm not sure.

Here's the link.

Actually, my gut is to not be worried about it. We live in an area of high international travel, and there are probably a ton of people getting shots like this. I just thought I'd ask opinions here, since she is in close contact with my kids.

Thanks!

[Gitti]

I guess you could ask her if she is getting any live virus vaccines? Those are the only ones that could spread to your kids.

Why is she getting all those vaccines? She should research the area and see if there is even a danger of the diseases. Truthfully, no matter where we go, we would never get vaccinated first.

[tessie]

Originally Posted by Gitti

Why is she getting all those vaccines?

Because she's going to a country where there is often limited access to clean water and decent healthcare.

HTH

[amnesiac]

Injectable typhoid vaccine is not live.

[runes]

Originally Posted by tessie

Because she's going to a country where there is often limited access to clean water and decent healthcare.

HTH

It depends upon where she's going in the country, and what she's doing there, not just the mere fact that she is going. The risk factors are different for someone that is traveling in the more developed areas of the country vs. doing something like healthcare outreach in remote regions.

[tessie]

Originally Posted by runes

It depends upon where she's going in the country, and what she's doing there, not just the mere fact that she is going. The risk factors are different for someone that is traveling in the more developed areas of the country vs. doing something like healthcare outreach in remote regions.

Well I agree but I'd hazard a guess that a young woman going backpacking won't be hanging around the pool at the Marriott.

[runes]

Originally Posted by tessie

Well I agree but I'd hazard a guess that a young woman going backpacking won't be hanging around the pool at the Marriott.

Even if she is going backpacking, it depends upon where and with whom and what she will be doing etc. She would be safe backpacking away in the wilderness, away from people as long as she had access to safe, clean food and water. The greatest risk of communicable disease would probably be if she was doing some type of humanitarian work providing primary or emergent health care to sick/injured people in a remote but densely populated area. Then again, as long as universal precautions were adhered to, the risk would be minimized.

This once again illustrates the importance of doing an individualized risk-benefit analysis.

[momofmine]

Originally Posted by Gitti

I guess you could ask her if she is getting any live virus vaccines? Those are the only ones that could spread to your kids.

Why is she getting all those vaccines? She should research the area and see if there is even a danger of the diseases. Truthfully, no matter where we go, we would never get vaccinated first.

I know! She's taking all the meds and doing all the shots, but I don't really know too many details of where she's staying, what she's doing, etc.

Originally Posted by amnesiac

Injectable typhoid vaccine is not live.

Thank you! That's one I know she's getting. I guess I'll just ask her to find out if any of the others are live.

[amnesiac]

Other than oral typhoid, the only live things would be MMR or varicella. Those aren't generally pushed for travel there though.

[momofmine]

Update

Originally Posted by amnesiac

Other than oral typhoid, the only live things would be MMR or varicella. Those aren't generally pushed for travel there though.

She actually IS getting the oral typhoid. She has offered to wait a bit to take it, because she just has to have completed it one week before she leaves. She is going for a year, so she is leaving soon anyway. I want to ask her to wait until she is done with helping us to take it, if that works. But I don't want to be overreacting. They told her at the clinic that the only risk of transmission is through stool, and that there is no risk at all. They actually said it has never happened, which I'm not sure how they can say that so confidently.

What would you do?

[momofmine]

vaccine shedding

Hi there,
I had a previous thread about vaccines to India, but I wanted to get opinions on this update now, and I didn't know how to edit the title. SO...the story is that our babysitter is going to India for a year and is getting the oral typhoid fever vaccine, which is live, and I have read that there are no documented cases of secondary transmission of vaccine organisms. So, would you be concerned about this? I could cover her last few shifts once she takes the vaccine. She is being very open and said she would wait to take it, but she has to complete it one week before she leaves. What do you all think?

[Gitti]

Personally I would not take the chance. Who really knows whether there is secondary transmission or not? It's not like measles or mumps. Those I would not worry about.

[amnesiac]

Merging your threads & adding "updated" title

[momofmine]

Originally Posted by Gitti

Personally I would not take the chance. Who really knows whether there is secondary transmission or not? It's not like measles or mumps. Those I would not worry about.

That's what I am leaning towards also. Thanks!

[Gitti]

Originally Posted by tessie

Because she's going to a country where there is often limited access to clean water and decent healthcare.

HTH

An injection of disease will not change that.

Originally Posted by amnesiac

Injectable typhoid vaccine is not live.

Good! Based on that information I would not worry about her shots.

[momofmine]

Originally Posted by Gitti

Good! Based on that information I would not worry about her shots.

Well that's the thing though. She is not getting the injectable one, she's doing the oral one, which is live.

[tessie]

Originally Posted by Gitti

An injection of disease will not change that.

Have you ever been to India or similar countries? Have you experienced the sheer filth? If you're 100s of miles from decent healthcare and in a place with no proper sanitation then vaccines might be helpful.