I've been putting it off for some time now but with less than one month until the big trip, I had to bite the bullet and trudge to SHS for "travel medicine" - a nice way of saying "crap-load of needles" - otherwise all sort of disease hell just might break loose.
So... I compiled a list of everything I'd need... Hep A, Typhoid, Japanese Encephalitis, and Rabies. Not to mention, I still haven't gotten my Tetanus booster plus, if I'm gonna be living in a dorm, Meningitis would also probably be good. Six????
It gets worse, Hep A is a two-step vaccine and JE is a three-step... I'm going to cry... really.
Nine needles. NINE!!!
Maybe it's not worth it. Or maybe I'll just take a gamble and never touch any animals and always always wear super-duty insect repellent and only drink bottled water and just never be around people in general... umm... maybe this plan wouldn't work.
Ok, new tack, how many of these can be taken orally?
One. Typhoid. Damn!
Except, the current antibiotic I'm taking for derm reasons might affect absorption, rendering the oral vaccine less useful. Shit!
Ok, let's try to get some perspective, I only need one Hep A shot before I leave. I can deal with the anxiety of the second shot six months from now.
Fab, down to eight.
Also, JE is delivered sub-cutaneously vs. intra-muscularly so those three should hurt a whole lot less especially if I'm not paying attention.
I can do that I suppose.
Rabies is debatable it seems and since I have to go to a different travel medicine clinic for that and JE, I'll ask those docs what they think before committing.
So, let's call it seven and a half.
Ah, who am I kidding, that's still a crap load but, I'm not going to cry (at least I hope not). I might faint though... oooh, that wouldn't be good either.
Ok, be sure to request to lie down before getting any shots.
Yeah, lying down would be a good thing.
