Are shots required for West Africa?

[crowpro]

We are doing the Capetown to Hong Kong cruise in January 2015. Does anyone know if vaccines or shots are required for this cruise. I have been to the Oceania website and did not find the answer.

Thanks

[LHT28]

You can check the requirement for entering a specific Country @

http://travel.state.gov/content/passports/english/country.html

 

your cruise does not appear to have West Africa on the itinerary unless you have a land trip planned check for South & East Africa rules

Edited October 8, 2014 by LHT28

[StanandJim]

With the way that things are going over there, I'd suggest that you check with both the American Embassy and the CDC about immunizations, not the cruise line:

http://traveltips.usatoday.com/required-immunizations-travel-ghana-west-africa-55812.html

[terry&mike]

Does your community have a travel medicine clinic, or does your local group of doctors have one that specializes in travel medicine? These are usually really great resources.

We keep our immunizations up to date by visiting with a doctor who's specialty is Travel Medicine, we usually go about once a year and give him the list of places we'll be visiting over the next 12 months or so.

He usually meets with us, gives us a printout on each of the destinations which includes some health tips such as diseases present, food and water issues, and so on, and discusses any immunizations we need to have updated (ex Hep A), or gives us prescriptions for others (ex antimalarial).

 

Some that need to be kept current for most of our travels have been these:

Tetanus (shot, every 10 years)

Hep A (shot, every 10 years)

Typhoid (live vaccine pill, every 5 years)

 

There are some we have had that are good for forever, such as Polio, MMR (measles, mumps, rubella).

There are some that will be specific for an area you are visiting, such as an anti-malarial treatment.

There are some prescriptions they may send you away with to make your trip more comfortable, if you are interested, such as Cipro for (some types of) travelers tummy; or sleep aids to help you sleep on the plane or for getting your body clock right in a new time zone.

So, lots of things you can discuss with them.

 

We also keep a little booklet International Certificates of Vaccination, to help us remember when we had what when. These booklets can also be used when visiting a country that requires proof of certain vaccines, although those are few and far between these days. No, we don't travel with the booklets, just keep them in a drawer to remind us, and bring them along for the doctor to update.

As a personal aside, I just like my little book, as it's kind of an antique at this point. The first entry in my booklet is April 1, 1965.

[crowpro]

Sorry, I meant East Africa.

Thanks for the replies.

[Queen of DaNile]

While most would not be "required" there might be some you would want to consider. Like others said - check the countries you are visiting against the CDC recommendations at http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/destinations/list/ and consult a Travel Med doctor.

Edited October 8, 2014 by Queen of DaNile
clarification

[palermo22]

East Africa and South Africa shouldn't even be in the same paragraph as West Africa (where at the State Department we had a saying: WAWA - West Africa Wins Again). If you are only going to the main cities (and not into the jungle) then you probably only need to get Tetanus and Gamma Globulin and Hep A (and maybe B). Into the jungle - you might need malaria pills.

[no fuss travel]

If you are going to Zimbabwe you need to get your yellow fever because South Africa may not let you into the country if you do not have it. We had to get it this past January because we went to Victoria Falls prior to embarking on the ship in Cape Town. Botswana and Zambia recommend the yellow fever as well.

[Arusha]

Re: Malaria

 

Be sure to discuss the itinerary and excursions with your doctor or a travel medicine clinic. You do not need to "go into the jungle" to be exposed to mosquitoes that carry malaria. Here's world map that shows the risk of malaria:

 

[terry&mike]

We brought proof of our yellow fever vaccinations (both had as children) when we visited several East African countries, but no one ever asked for it. This was in 2004, so they may be more strict with it now.

We definitely took an anti-malarial treatment when visiting both East African nations, and some South African nations, as recommended by our travel doctor.

[Caroldoll]

I LOVE AFRICA...really, but I can't go again. I had such a HORRIBLE reaction to the medication. If you can live with huge sores in your mouth and on the sides of your face, then go for it. I had to quit it early. When I got to New York, which was only on the way home, they went to a doctor for me so I could be seen. Everyone doesn't get this. My husband was fine, but it is a possibility.

[Andee]

We recently spent almost 3 weeks in Tanzania.

Got polio boosters and made sue tetanus was up to date.

Got hep A shot and took 4 pills for typhoid.

Started anti-malarial meds a couple of days before the trip and continued for a week after.

Because we were flying US-Europe-Tanzania, without stopping in anyplace where yellow fever is a problem, we didn't need to get the yellow fever shot. Other countries in East Africa have different requirements,

[Hawaiidan]

to be blunt, with the current pandemic in the entire region, much of which has no cure I would not even consider getting off in any port. My wife an RN has basically said, " no way , no how , am I setting foot anywhere in the entire region

It is also true that the tourist-dependent governments are NOT going to say anything to disrupt tourists......

 

Hey, its your dime and your life... your also be risking denial to re-entry to the US even if a citizen.... id you come down with any disease........... then there are the terrorists.... No thanks I will watch a few National Georaraphic videos............and live to travel another day

[spindrift]

We are doing Cape Town to Singapore in December, and we have been advised that we are to have the Yellow Fever shot.

[cbb]

Do you think that O will change its itinerary for the RTW2015 since it goes to several Western Africa ports?

 

I'm stalking the Roll Call for that cruise since we're signed to do RTW16. If you were on the '15 would you leave the ship in those western Africa ports?

[Floridiana]

Do you think that O will change its itinerary for the RTW2015 since it goes to several Western Africa ports?

 

I'm stalking the Roll Call for that cruise since we're signed to do RTW16. If you were on the '15 would you leave the ship in those western Africa ports?

 

I am sure they will not even stop in ports where Ebola is present. As far as I know HAL has changed some West African ports.

[cbb]

I guess my question would be more like "since Togo & Benin are not that far from Liberia, would people leave the ship to go ashore" and would O think about cancelling those ports?

 

I know that many have arranged for independent excursions of those ports so if O were to cancel those ports, when would people know? Would people take O's excursions from that port?

 

We were told many weeks before our cruise that Alexandria & Cairo were off the itinerary as well as a Syrian port and the ports/days in Israel were altered.

 

Just wondering what cruise lines are going to do about west Africa. They're probably wondering as well!

[vlthom]

We are doing the Capetown to Hong Kong cruise in January 2015. Does anyone know if vaccines or shots are required for this cruise. I have been to the Oceania website and did not find the answer.

Thanks

 

I used to travel to Africa routinely on business. Prior to travel, we always made sure to have standard vaccines up-to-date as well as Hep A, Hep B, and Yellow Fever. These are good for 10 years. Even if your planned stops don't require certain vaccines, it's better to be safe than sorry. You never know when an unplanned stop or diversion may be required -- either by your airplane or the ship. There were locations in Africa that checked our little yellow booklet as proof that we'd received the Yellow Fever vaccine. If we couldn't provide proof, we could have been forced to receive the vaccine right there in the airport -- which is not the best option!

[smilin jack]

Terry&Mike

As a personal aside, I just like my little book, as it's kind of an antique at this point. The first entry in my booklet is April 1, 1965.

 

We just got our Yellow Fever shots, and we got the little yellow book. After reading about your antique book, I remembered I had one somewhere....after a small hunt I found it! The first entry was in April 1967, administered in Wake Island on my way to Vietnam.

 

The amazing thing about that is my wife never found it to throw it away...:p

[terry&mike]

When I bring that little yellow book into my doctor's office to have him update it, he always smiles and comments about 'it's got a lot of miles on it'. My first stamp was on my way to Panama.

He mentioned he has a client who brings in a booklet that goes back to 1940.