Vaxing and overseas travel question

[Milkymommi]

I am just curious about what some of your thoughts are on the neccesity of vaxing when overseas travel is anticipated?

DH travels frequently outside the country and now that the kids are a bit older I am joining him for the 1st time this week coming up for a trip to France where he'll be speaking at a conference. My plans are to bring our kiddos with us on a few future trips. They would include places like India, Africa, England etc...

What does one do with reguard to the dangers of strange diseases like Yellow Fever that seem to be prevelant in 3rd world countries (I know England is not one ) and how do you go about getting the info that is true on such dangers? I'm doing OK with the stuff here in the States but I've got to be honest... this stuff scares me a little bit.I really want my kids to be able to experience these parts of the world and all of us to be together. I'm not OK with leaving them behind but I'm concerned about exposing them to the suggested vax's and also the diseases themselves.

Any words of wisdom?

[mamacarla]

My husband and I travel a lot as well. We decided we just couldn'y take the risk of not vaxing. While I feel good about this decision it doesn't make it any easier to go in and get them.

[Electra375]

It's not just the going with him that is an issue. He is carrying home on his person, in his body any diseases he comes in contact with overseas.

You can't very well quarrentine your husband when he comes home.

I lived in a 3rd world country until the age of 22. I was vaxed for everything under the sun. Yellow fever vac is only good for 10 yrs so the other 12 years overseas I was not vaced and I neve came in contact with yellow fever or any one with it. Mosequito irradication was a very big under taking in Panama and I got more mosequito bites in the US than I ever did in the Panama jungles.

I would suggest researching the countries and seeing what out breaks they have encountered over the past 5 years and where these out breaks were. Then decide. I'd go to the CDC US overseas travel information to start with. And then to the World Health Organization.

TB doesn't have a vax (in the US -- Dominican Republic has something like a vax not sure what) and yet it would worry me the most. Confined travel on an airplane with all those people coughing etc. and the recirculated air!

Polio is not irradicated from 3rd world countries and the WHO recommends the OPV for international travel. However, you can not get the OPV in the US any longer. OPV is the only vac that protects against community outbreaks of polio -- info from the WHO website 1998.

I feel sometimes that too much information is worse than no information. These decisions have only been made harder with each piece of information we read.

[Milkymommi]

*WOW* This is a hard one... Thankfully we're not planning to take the kids quite yet so I have time to do plenty of research. Also DH doesn't have any 3rd world trips coming up too soon either.Everything is in Europe right now. As a matter of fact we're leaving for France tommorrow. It's my 1st trip with him...I guess that's what made this such a reality for me.

Thanks Mamas

[hcsl]

So the WHO reccommends the OPV when you're actually (possibly) going to come in contact with the disease??!! What the h*ll good is the IPV then? "Here, get this IPV vax while you're in the US/western hemisphere, but let us know if you're actually going to be at risk for coming in contact with polio and then come get the OPV."

Is it just a discrepancy between the CDC recommendations and WHO's? Is it just me? Or does this, like so many other vax-related things, just not make sense?

Is the OPV still causing polio wherever it is available?

[Electra375]

OPV has been responsible for vac related polio, hence the reason IPV became the standard by the CDC. In 1998, the WHO stated that OPV was the only polio vac that would prevent polio in community outbreaks. That means to me that OPV is the only vac good if active polio is being spread person to person as in epidemic. How IPV works then I don't know many after all the doses it works. I honestly don't know.
There are a lot of discrepencies between CDC, WHO, AAP, and others. It's a mess to sort through.

Back to the posters question -- Kenya missionaries our church supports are battling typhoid and malayria right now. Just an FYI to think about. As an adult if I were going to Kenya or somewhere close by, I would probably get the Typhoid vax. but skip the Malayria pills.

I had the typhoid vax as a child. (I had a ton of vac for 3rd world living.)

It's hard enough to make these vac decisions where you aren't traveling, I don't envy that you are having to make these kinds of decisions.

[suschi]

I think what needs to be concentrated on:

what are there outbreaks of where you are going and who is most likely to be affected?

Often times you will find that it is the malnourished who are getting the brunt of disease and/or complications.

Will a healthy traveler who is aware of the possible unsanitary conditions and responding appropriately be at much risk?