Vaccinations needed for cruises to Central America?

[Fred C]

I will be cruising to Panama, Columbia and Costa Rica. Are any vaccinations needed or suggested for these stops? Thank You.

[gerelmx]

It is best to protect yourself against mosquitoes with repellent and clothing that covers your body.

[MamasNomad]

I will be cruising to Panama, Columbia and Costa Rica. Are any vaccinations needed or suggested for these stops? Thank You.

 

Best to check the CDC website. I found we should be vaccinated for a couple things.

[Keith1010]

No vaccinations are required for these locations.

 

Do visit the CDC web site.

 

Also check with your physician's office to be sure all of your vaccinations are up to date.

 

If you are going into rain forests, etc then have mosquito repellent clothing. Always wise to bring repellent with you.

 

Keith

[Mynki]

I will be cruising to Panama, Columbia and Costa Rica. Are any vaccinations needed or suggested for these stops? Thank You.

 

I'd always get advice from medical professionals and not an internet forum.

 

I don't know where you are from but here in the UK you make an appointment at your doctors surgery, tell them where and when you are going and they prescribe appropriate vaccinations and malaria tablets etc.

 

As the advice changes regularly, particularly in regards to the different strains of malaria you really need up to date medical advice IMHO.

[NemoCrownie]

We did these ports this past February and were advised by our Dr., pursuant to the CDC guidelines, to get the Hep A vaccine and Typhoid (unless avoiding local food and drinks) since insurance would pay for it given the itinerary. He thinks it is a necessary vaccine, regardless - and one not usually paid by insurance. I don't really think it was necessary but went ahead and got it. The first shot was in 2016 and I think our insurance coverage has changed in 2017 and it is now covered regardless of travel plans.

 

Here's a link to the CDC travel site: https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/destinations/list

[Vacation Nut]

Just on Reflection now having been in CostRica and Panama. Didn’t see one mosquito, but i had repellant with me. I think that if you do excursions you really don’t go to places where you might pick up food borne illness. I didn’t even think about vaccinations for this cruise... maybe there are months when there are more insects than right now.

[Cruise Raider]

While no vaccinations are required, I agree with others to check out the CDCs website.

We did this trip in April and we saw many mosquitoes on our tours ... others say there were none but I was on the lookout. Thankfully, I took repellent wipes for my skin and even sprayed my clothes with the recommended repellents. Not one bite!

[Fred C]

Thank you all so much for your responses.

[waterbug123]

We did these ports this past February and were advised by our Dr., pursuant to the CDC guidelines, to get the Hep A vaccine and Typhoid (unless avoiding local food and drinks) since insurance would pay for it given the itinerary.

 

Obviously, this will vary according to one's specific insurance policy. A couple of years ago when getting some shots for a trip to Africa my insurance company denied paying for typhoid since it is not considered a risk in the US. Travel-related vaccinations can be pricey so anyone hoping their insurance will cover them should confirm with their insurance company ahead of time and not make any assumptions.

[ghstudio]

If you can afford the cruise....and you're making your vaccination decisions based on the cost or who pays....there's something amiss.

 

You never want to be saying "I should have had that shot, taken those pills, etc".....

[annbarker23]

Because we were doing rainforest hikes we were advised to have a Yellow Fever jab and take malaria tablets. Our typhoid, hep A and tetanus were fortunately all up to date. It was quite expensive but worth it for peace of mind even if at the end of the day we hardly saw a mosquito!

 

 

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[waterbug123]

If you can afford the cruise....and you're making your vaccination decisions based on the cost or who pays....there's something amiss.

 

You never want to be saying "I should have had that shot, taken those pills, etc".....

 

Not sure who you're responding to, but when I mentioned confirming whether vacs are covered by insurance, it was not to say "if they aren't, don't get them." No one likes surprises though, so I'd much rather know ahead of time if something will be covered by insurance or if I'll be footing the bill. Just makes it easier to plan expenses in a given month.

[Mynki]

If you can afford the cruise....and you're making your vaccination decisions based on the cost or who pays....there's something amiss.

 

You never want to be saying "I should have had that shot, taken those pills, etc".....

 

Most, but not all vaccines are free here in the UK. Malaria pills are too. Yet you still get some people not bothering to seek free medical advice. :(

[Bootstrap77]

Yellow fever may be required depending on where you port. In Canada we have travel clinics where nurses provide detailed travel advice and vaccine info. For instance for vaccine it may be recommended depending on what you are doing at each port to get typhoid, cholera, yellow fever, malaria pills, boosters for Tdap (tetanus diphtheria and pertussis) and MMR (measles mumps rubella depending on your age though), hep B and A......these are just a few. Depending on your age a shingles vaccine may be warranted but the long term efficacy is not life long so this vaccine depends on a few factors. As well as other posters have mentioned barriers and chemical methods of protection from mosquitoes to prevent dengue fever, zika, and chikagunga if those diseases are relevant to your ports. Hope this info is helpful. Have a great trip :)

[Oceangoer2]

Yellow fever may be required depending on where you port. In Canada we have travel clinics where nurses provide detailed travel advice and vaccine info. For instance for vaccine it may be recommended depending on what you are doing at each port to get typhoid, cholera, yellow fever, malaria pills, boosters for Tdap (tetanus diphtheria and pertussis) and MMR (measles mumps rubella depending on your age though), hep B and A......these are just a few. Depending on your age a shingles vaccine may be warranted but the long term efficacy is not life long so this vaccine depends on a few factors. As well as other posters have mentioned barriers and chemical methods of protection from mosquitoes to prevent dengue fever, zika, and chikagunga if those diseases are relevant to your ports. Hope this info is helpful. Have a great trip :)

 

OMG...:eek:.... I'll try to have a great trip but all of the above 'protections' mentioned are enough to scare me from leaving the ship. Never gave these port potentials a thought.

[crilski]

Cruised the Panama in October on the Infinity. Outstanding experience. Participated in some great private excursions. Took bug repellent - never used it once. Never saw one mosquito. At the same time, our daughter was in the jungles of central Guatemala collecting insects. She took a Yellow Fever shot, was up to date on Hep, and malaria pills. She was told NOT to pet any stray dogs - rabies. She 'felt' lots of mosquitoes, fire ants, and etc. But that's what she was there for. So guess it depends where you go. Infinity ports - no problems for us. (You should see some on the insects she collected! Some were inches long!)

[Bootstrap77]

Cruised the Panama in October on the Infinity. Outstanding experience. Participated in some great private excursions. Took bug repellent - never used it once. Never saw one mosquito. At the same time, our daughter was in the jungles of central Guatemala collecting insects. She took a Yellow Fever shot, was up to date on Hep, and malaria pills. She was told NOT to pet any stray dogs - rabies. She 'felt' lots of mosquitoes, fire ants, and etc. But that's what she was there for. So guess it depends where you go. Infinity ports - no problems for us. (You should see some on the insects she collected! Some were inches long!)

 

Ah yes rabies. Forgot that one. :)

[Bootstrap77]

OMG...:eek:.... I'll try to have a great trip but all of the above 'protections' mentioned are enough to scare me from leaving the ship. Never gave these port potentials a thought.

 

 

Sorry, :o I’m in health care. Have a great trip!

[ghstudio]

Not sure who you're responding to, but when I mentioned confirming whether vacs are covered by insurance, it was not to say "if they aren't, don't get them." No one likes surprises though, so I'd much rather know ahead of time if something will be covered by insurance or if I'll be footing the bill. Just makes it easier to plan expenses in a given month.

 

It was a generic statement to all......being penny wise and pound foolish about health is generally not a good idea in the long run.