Travel with unvaccinated 3 yo to Thailand and India

[moongoddess176]

I guess I am just mostly looking for opinions, related stories and support here. My three yo ds has never been vaccinated, but we are moving to Thailand and India for the better part of a year. He is a super healthy kid overall and I am still breastfeeding a bit. My concern is mostly that he has Cystic Fibrosis and for those that don't know anything about it, he is more suseptable to serious lung complications if he contracts a bug. For this reason we are thinking about giving him a couple of selective vaccinations, DTap, Pneumococcal, Polio (still prevalent in India). I would like to get people's take on those vaccines. Also, we are considering Hep A and B. What are the likelyhood of serious problems if those diseases are contracted and is it worth it? Thanks.

Alicia

[cloudswinger]

I read that the Hep A is food/water borne, from unsanitary conditions, but that it goes away completely. Hep B is passed through bodily fluids, but it stays for a lifetime. So it doesn't seem like either would really be necessary.

I've taken my unvaxed child to Vietnam, but not for as long, and she doesn't have any other health conditions. A lot of the kids that get serious complications from the disease generally have some other health issues.

Go here, select india
http://www.who.int/immunization_moni...fileresult.cfm

It tells you the number of cases of each vaccine-preventable disease, so you can get a feel for how likely you are to encounter each disease. Then look at their vax schedule, and see what the recommendations are. It's not the same as in the US. They also vax for tuberculosis, but don't do pneumococcal.

[tessie]

What has your child's dr advised?

In your shoes I would vax. Especially as you're going to India - extreme poverty+unsanitary conditions are definite risk factors for vax preventable diseases and the risk to your son if he were to contract one would be much greater than to a child of average health.

[Liquesce]

I agree with tessie. Which may be obvious, since I've posted here before that one of the primary reasons my kids have a relatively typical vax schedule is due to travel considerations. The bottom line for me has been that if I was unable to vaccinate my children, then I would also by default be unable to take my children to places where certain vax preventable diseases are widespread (in cases such as hepatitis) or even plausible (in cases such as polio).

FWIW, Hep A is generally more easily contracted but Hep B carries greater risk of long term complications (and young children are in that high risk group should they contract it). Correct me if I'm wrong, but cystic fibrosis carries with it a risk of developing liver problems itself, no? If so I personally would be especially leery of exposing a child to a heightened risk of contracting these potentially liver-damaging diseases. (Though my bias is obvious in the decisions I've already stated making myself.)

[Ammaarah]

I have not been to India, but I have been to Bangladesh, and while there are some steps you can take to avoid waterborne and foodborne disease, there are a lot of gray areas. You might boil your water before drinking it but chances are whoever washes your dishes will wash them in unboiled water. You might be scrupulously clean at home but visit a friend's home who has a different water supply, and get exposed to some nasty stuff. For this reason we all got Hep A vaccines when we went to Bangladesh.

There are so many people in Bangladesh whose bodies don't work the way they would have if they could have avoided polio.

In your shoes, I would definitely have my child vaccinated. Like Liquesce, I have kept my daughter on a more rigid vaccine schedule than I might have if we didn't plan to spend a lot of time in a third world country over the course of her childhood.

[lalaland42]

In your case, I would probably vax. Actually if we were moving to India, I'd vax my non-CF kid for all of those but especially in your case.

Breaking down my thoughts:

Polio - the vaccine seems (to me) to be the least reactive of all the vaccines and even if there was only a small chance of contracting Polio, I'd do this one.

DTaP - This is the vaccine that concerns me the most but with a kid that has CF, I wouldn't risk pertussis. The vaccine isn't 100% but it does offer some protection. I don't know a ton about CF but someone I know a couple of people with CF and from my understanding of the progression of the disease, you would want to protect the lungs as much as possible.

Hep B - This is blood borne and since your DS has a medical condition that could require medical treatment, I'd lean toward getting that one as well just because the consequences are so deadly.

Hep A - I don't know, I guess it depends on your plans WRT eating. I was supposed to go to India and ended up spending 2 months in Thailand instead and I had Hep A (pre-DD) but I would consider this more of a nuisance illness. I don't know how having CF would effect my decision.

Pneumococcal - I honestly don't know about this one.

You should really ask your pedi who has specific knowledge about your DS's condition.

Have fun!

[carriebft]

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/news...2526803500.htm

India is home to 27% of the world's pneumococcal disease cases and had 72,000 hib deaths in 2000. So I would consider those as well.

[kamane18]

Based on your situation and depending what you and your doctor think, of course, I would definitely do at least DTaP, Hep B and Polio. I'd probably also do HIB and Prevnar. Not as sure with Hep A. I'd also definitely space them out at least a month apart (if you have time) to try to minimize reactions/overload on his system. Sounds like a great trip!

[sunflower.mama]

What about non-standard vaccines like Malaria? I received that before traveling to India...

[iamleabee]

yes, i would vax the child with cystic fibrosis traveling to india. HTH!

[lalaland42]

Originally Posted by carriebft

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/news...2526803500.htm

India is home to 27% of the world's pneumococcal disease cases and had 72,000 hib deaths in 2000. So I would consider those as well.

In that case, I'd probably do those as well.

[tessie]

Originally Posted by sunflower.mama

What about non-standard vaccines like Malaria? I received that before traveling to India...

There isn't a malaria vaccine.

[AlexisT]

Are you sure you're not confusing vaccination with prophylactic antimalarials?

(Whether or not antimalarials are needed should be discussed with a doctor, preferably one at a travel clinic; IIRC, they're recommended for parts of India and Thailand, but not all, so it's something you need to ask about.)

[ammiga]

I would not give DTaP. The pertussis portion is so ineffective, and the vaccine is so reactive.

I'm not sure that vaccinating is something that we would ever do, especially given a compromised system, but DTaP is certainly one I would stay away from. On some level, I just have to have faith that all the years of breastfeeding have created a strong immune system that my dd will have for life.

[moongoddess176]

Thank you all for your insightful input. We have an appt tomarrow to start the vaccine series. One more question though, I was thinking about not getting the MMR, because the diseases are usually not that serious in healthy kids (which he is not immune compromised), but what are people's thought on that one too, because I'm now having second thoughts.

Also, we have 10 weeks until we leave and I am wondering how many vaccinines is it relatively safe to give him at once? Ideally, I am thinking no more that 2 at a time and waiting at least a week before I give another 2. It will be more dr's visits, but probably easier on him system What have others done?

Thanks.

[tessie]

Originally Posted by moongoddess176

Thank you all for your insightful input. We have an appt tomarrow to start the vaccine series. One more question though, I was thinking about not getting the MMR, because the diseases are usually not that serious in healthy kids (which he is not immune compromised), but what are people's thought on that one too, because I'm now having second thoughts.

I know he isn't immuno-compromised but I think MMR would be a good idea. All three diseases are very common in parts of Asia and if he does get one he is likely to be hit harder than the average kid. I'd also consider the fact that healthcare may not be up to standards in your home country, particularly if you're going to more remote areas, so prevention might be better than a poor attempt at a cure.

Hope all goes well and have a great trip.

[ammiga]

Are you concerned about chicken pox? If not, then I would skip the MMR. They are all normal childhood diseases. I would not worry about any of those diseases, especially in a child that still nurses occasionally.

[tessie]

Originally Posted by ammiga

Are you concerned about chicken pox? If not, then I would skip the MMR. They are all normal childhood diseases. I would not worry about any of those diseases, especially in a child that still nurses occasionally.

The MMR doesn't contain the CP vax.

I also think you may have missed the bit in the OP which states that the child has Cystic Fibrosis. As wonderful as breastmilk is it just doesn't cut it as a cure.

[ammiga]

Originally Posted by tessie

The MMR doesn't contain the CP vax.

I also think you may have missed the bit in the OP which states that the child has Cystic Fibrosis. As wonderful as breastmilk is it just doesn't cut it as a cure.

I know that MMR doesn't contain CP. I'm saying that they are all normal childhood diseases, so if she isn't worried about CP I don't see much reason to worry about measles, mumps, or rubella.

I didn't say that breastmilk cures CF. But it does carry strong anti-viral protection, which would help to protect against many ailments, including the ones I was discussing in that post.

[tessie]

Originally Posted by ammiga

I know that MMR doesn't contain CP. I'm saying that they are all normal childhood diseases, so if she isn't worried about CP I don't see much reason to worry about measles, mumps, or rubella.

I didn't say that breastmilk cures CF. But it does carry strong anti-viral protection, which would help to protect against many ailments, including the ones I was discussing in that post.

The complications of mmr are much more serious than those of CP.

And I appreciate that bm is good stuff but it genuinely isn't going to protect him from disease.