Yellow Fever Shot - Is it that risky to get if you're healthy?

[Go-Bucks!]

On 4/2/2019 at 6:22 PM, cbb said:

we try and watch for the Consumer Report reviews of the mosquito repellents--they were great info for us in 2016 and will keep an eye on the reports before 2020 just to make sure that nothing much has changed.  

2018 Consumer Reports recommended Ben's 100 DEET spray, which is what I bought. Have used it twice so far...no bites, but a little goes a long way as it's greasy. Just a light spray seems to give good coverage. I bought it from Amazon dot com. 

[cbb]

One of the mosquito sprays we used (thanks to Consumer Reports) was Oil of Lemon Eucalyptus (OLE) from REI.  We also had a product with DEET but the OLE was a lot better smelling!!! 

 

For our clothing we used Sawyer Permethrin according to its instructions and it worked well for us.  If memory serves, we were given small bottles of Ben's by O the night before we visited certain ports. 

 

 

[Gardendog]

On 4/3/2019 at 10:28 AM, Rob the Cruiser said:

Our prescription was atovaquone - projuanil. 

 

Here's the link to the CDC article that robbie21 was probably talking about.

Thank you for that link. Very useful! Now I just have to figure out what the coastal states of Brazil are.

[ruthnlarry]

1 hour ago, Gardendog said:

Thank you for that link. Very useful! Now I just have to figure out what the coastal states of Brazil are.

Here is a link to a CDC map showing where there is transmission of malaria: 

https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/yellowbook/2018/infectious-diseases-related-to-travel/yellow-fever-malaria-information-by-country/brazil#5314

[robbie21]

2 hours ago, Gardendog said:

Thank you for that link. Very useful! Now I just have to figure out what the coastal states of Brazil are.

We went to a travel clinic and the nurse there was extremely knowledgeable about all the geographical areas affected by malaria and the drugs that were appropriate for each of them.

She had of course access to the CDC websites noted here as well as the health departments of the various countries.

 

My recommendation would be to find a similar expert. I don't really think healthcare is a do-it-yourself project.

[ruthnlarry]

3 minutes ago, robbie21 said:

We went to a travel clinic and the nurse there was extremely knowledgeable about all the geographical areas affected by malaria and the drugs that were appropriate for each of them.

She had of course access to the CDC websites noted here as well as the health departments of the various countries.

 

My recommendation would be to find a similar expert. I don't really think healthcare is a do-it-yourself project.

We totally agree!  I have graduate and postdoctoral training in tropical medicine, and I still consult CDC and experts at a travel clinic.  Never take the advice from a novice who does not have the professional training. 

[cbb]

we, too, visited our travel clinic affiliated with a major medical school & hospital.  The staff was wonderful and we followed all their advice. 

 

Not everybody is as lucky as we are--2 top medical schools & hospitals within 20 minutes of each other and us.  And, most of our neighbors are physicians; dave says he can get a free consult in any specialty just taking the garbage can to the street!

[Rob the Cruiser]

We would never go the "do it yourself" route. The link to CDC was meant to be an FYI. We followed the instructions from our Kaiser Travel Advisory Service after a detailed interview where we discussed each day of our itinerary. 

 

Please accept my sincere apology for trying to be helpful.

 

 

 

Edited April 7, 2019 by Rob the Cruiser

[robbie21]

Rob, sorry, I was responding to gardendogs apparent effort to decide for himself if he needed the vaccine. Hence my recommendation.  I am sure your link will be helpful for some who are seeking more background on the issue.

[clo]

On 4/2/2019 at 5:26 PM, Ken the cruiser said:

Thank you so much for providing this information! It really helped us minimize our worries associated with the YF shot.

You may want to read what the CDC says and also contact a travel medicine clinic.  I wish boards like this wouldn't allow medical questions.  Too dangerous.

[NoWhiners]

We contacted our local travel clinic and have an appointment for later this summer. They were very clear--we will meet with them and they will decide what we need! I have read enough from the CDC that I feel informed and will see clinic says. 

 

I think it is OK to share our experiences on vaccines on these boards, but that doesn't take the place of a knowledgeable MD or clinic.

[KmomChicago]

Obviously medical advice needs to come from medical professionals. I agree it’s risky to allow such discussions here.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 14, 2019 by KmomChicago

[Ken the cruiser]

1 hour ago, clo said:

You may want to read what the CDC says and also contact a travel medicine clinic.  I wish boards like this wouldn't allow medical questions.  Too 

Actually, since starting this thread, I have decided at 67 going on an Amazon cruise really wasn't worth all the grief of getting the yellow fever shot. But I do appreciate all of those that have contributed to this thread.

[clo]

23 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Actually, since starting this thread, I have decided at 67 going on an Amazon cruise really wasn't worth all the grief of getting the yellow fever shot. But I do appreciate all of those that have contributed to this thread.

I'm 72!!!!! and went to Africa in '08 where YF vaccination was recommended.  And since, at the time, we were spending time in Rio (where there was no YF at the time but just a matter of time) we got it.  I also read in the last year that there was an outbreak at Iguazu Falls.  So I'm glad we've already had it and don't need to consider it again.  Best of luck and happy travels.

[HokiePoq]

We had the shots prior to going to Iguazu Falls and had our certificate for our Amazon cruise.  I was very glad I'd brought the certificate.   On the return itinerary we stopped at St. Lucia.   Only those with yellow fever certificates (cards, etc) were allowed off the ship.   This was because we'd stopped at Devil's Island.

Had no medical issues with the shots.  DH and I were over 65 at the time.

[HokiePoq]

15 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Actually, since starting this thread, I have decided at 67 going on an Amazon cruise really wasn't worth all the grief of getting the yellow fever shot. But I do appreciate all of those that have contributed to this thread.

Ken,

The Amazon is wonderful.    If your doctor feels you are able to get the shot, don't let that stand in your way.  

Absolutely wonderful In Manaus and the little ports up and down the Amazon not to mention Rio (there for Carnival).

We were your age or older when we went.    To give you a little chuckle...We stopped at one port where a little old lady was making drinks at the port (trying to recall how to spell caprina or something like that.)  We had two and then returned to the ship.  Apparently the bars and restaurants in that place had a lot of HAL customers.  Many had to be escorted back to the ship by the crew and one on a stretcher.   All these were likely way older than you.  Sixty seven was young on this cruise!  A good time was had by all, lol.

 

Edited June 14, 2019 by HokiePoq

[Ken the cruiser]

19 minutes ago, HokiePoq said:

Ken,

The Amazon is wonderful.    If your doctor feels you are able to get the shot, don't let that stand in your way.  

Absolutely wonderful In Manaus and the little ports up and down the Amazon not to mention Rio (there for Carnival).

We were your age or older when we went.    To give you a little chuckle...We stopped at one port where a little old lady was making drinks at the port (trying to recall how to spell caprina or something like that.)  We had two and then returned to the ship.  Apparently the bars and restaurants in that place had a lot of HAL customers.  Many had to be escorted back to the ship by the crew and one on a stretcher.   All these were likely way older than you.  Sixty seven was young on this cruise!  A good time was had by all, lol.

 

Thanks HokiePoq for the words of encouragement. My doctor’s appointment got moved to August, so I guess I could still ask about the shot as one never knows what cool cruises to Brazil might pop up in the years to come. One additional positive associated with cruising to Brazil now is that you don’t need a visa anymore. My guess is I’ll do fine with the shot as really don’t have any health issues. 

[clo]

1 hour ago, HokiePoq said:

Ken,

The Amazon is wonderful.    If your doctor feels you are able to get the shot, don't let that stand in your way.  

Absolutely wonderful In Manaus and the little ports up and down the Amazon not to mention Rio (there for Carnival).

We were your age or older when we went.    To give you a little chuckle...We stopped at one port where a little old lady was making drinks at the port (trying to recall how to spell caprina or something like that.)  We had two and then returned to the ship.  Apparently the bars and restaurants in that place had a lot of HAL customers.  Many had to be escorted back to the ship by the crew and one on a stretcher.   All these were likely way older than you.  Sixty seven was young on this cruise!  A good time was had by all, lol.

 

caipirinha 🙂

 

[HokiePoq]

1 minute ago, clo said:

caipirinha 🙂

 

Thanks!  They really do look good.   The part of the story I didn't tell before is that although we only had two, we didn't remember the tender ride back to the ship.   The next day a lady told DH how funny he was on the tender.  Oh dear!

[clo]

2 minutes ago, clo said:

caipirinha 🙂

 

FWIW the 'better ' cachacas' are really quite good and I recommend bringing a bottle home with you.

[clo]

1 minute ago, HokiePoq said:

Thanks!  They really do look good.   The part of the story I didn't tell before is that although we only had two, we didn't remember the tender ride back to the ship.   The next day a lady told DH how funny he was on the tender.  Oh dear!

LOL!  We love Brazilians.  We used to have an apt. in Rio and, when there, would have feijoada almost every Saturday (tradition) accompanied with generally two caipirinhas.  We would walk back to our apt., crash and maybe have scrambled eggs for dinner.  Oh, here's a pic of feijoada.

 

[Mura]

Feijoada is one of our favorite dishes -- we have a few Brazilian restaurants in NYC that are quite good, but what we had in Rio was a heck of a lot better!  And my favorite tipple in Brazil is either Brahma or cachaca!

 

By the way, the Portuguese version of Feijoada -- at least the one time we tried it -- doesn't begin to compare to the Brazilian version!

 

We were having a late lunch at Ipanema on our first visit to Rio in(March 1974 -- we were newlyweds.  The Feijoada was fabulous, but the highlight was when the husband of the only other couple there came over to toast us.  It was their 25th wedding anniversary and he hoped that we would be as happy as they were.

 

How nice was that!

 

Mura

 

 

 

[clo]

19 minutes ago, Mura said:

Feijoada is one of our favorite dishes -- we have a few Brazilian restaurants in NYC that are quite good, but what we had in Rio was a heck of a lot better!  And my favorite tipple in Brazil is either Brahma or cachaca!

 

By the way, the Portuguese version of Feijoada -- at least the one time we tried it -- doesn't begin to compare to the Brazilian version!

 

We were having a late lunch at Ipanema on our first visit to Rio in(March 1974 -- we were newlyweds.  The Feijoada was fabulous, but the highlight was when the husband of the only other couple there came over to toast us.  It was their 25th wedding anniversary and he hoped that we would be as happy as they were.

 

How nice was that!

 

Mura

 

 

 

The cariocas (those from Rio) are so, so nice.  We spent over three months there after buying our apt and hung with the locals exclusively, most of who don't speak English.  I taught the man working on our apt the word "ok."  So  I developed a very specialized Portuguese vocabulary.  Like double electrical outlet = duplo tonnato.  We haven't been back in two or maybe even almost three years so we added on a couple of day pre-cruise.  

 

Re cachaca we discovered the Academy of Cachaca in Leblon which is just south of Ipanema and that's when we broadened our horizons 🙂

 

 

[clo]

22 hours ago, KmomChicago said:

Obviously medical advice needs to come from medical professionals. I agree it’s risky to allow such discussions here.

 

 

 

 

 

I'm on a food site and the amount of medical "advice" sometimes gets out of control.  I have a lot of medical background and trust just a few sites, CDC being one (and I worked their my first job out of school).

[mmssnb]

A few things to consider. Some places require the YF vaccine (think places like Kenya). Do they check when you enter? No necessarily, but it can be up to the individual checking and it would be sad to be stopped because you don’t have it.

 

also, if you decide to get it, plan ahead. There is currently a vaccine shortage so you may need to travel to get it or wait longer than you had planned...