Roatan and immunizations

[dmoore19]

I was down there a month ago. Before I left i had my yearly physical and asked my doctor if/what i should take. He checked the WHO website and informed me that according to them I should be immunized for malaria and typhoid. The malaria was a piece of cake but the typhoid pills really did a number on me after the second pill so I threw them out. They gave me some crazy side effects like numbing of my face and lips, weird sensations in my head (no comments) and just a general feeling of not being able to concentrate. I threw them out. It took about 3 weeks for the symptoms to disappear.

Not while i am in no way advising that anyone do as i but I'd rather take my chances then deal with that crap.

I think you might have that backwards. The pills are for malaria, the shot is for Typhoid.

EDIT: I guess there is a pill for Typhoid. There is an immunization for Malaria but it is still in the test phase.

 

[Ozwald]

I think you might have that backwards. The pills are for malaria, the shot is for Typhoid.

EDIT: I guess there is a pill for Typhoid. There is an immunization for Malaria but it is still in the test phase.

Yeah I was supposed to get the shot but it was unavailable. My doctor okayed "Vivatif" once informed that that the shot was unavailable by my pharmacist.

 

[dmoore19]

Yeah I was supposed to get the shot but it was unavailable. My doctor okayed "Vivatif" once informed that that the shot was unavailable by my pharmacist.

My wife and I both had the typhoid shot, no complications. We took Chloroquin with no ill effects. Some folks are not as lucky. We liked the idea of 1 pill/week instead of messing with pills daily. The shot sounds pretty good but from what I read it is only about 50% effective.

It is such a personal issue everyone needs to decide for themselves. Malaria is such a bad a$$ disease we just weren't willing to take the chance. We got lucky in that we didn't have any side effects. Good luck to you finding one that works and doesn't cause you any problems.

We also got the prescription filled for Cipiro but we have never had to take it.....yet (fingers crossed) I am so bad about taking pills any way. I hate it. Give me a shot and get it over with. Then I don't have to remember to take a pill.

 

[large_diver]

We're going to Coco View in another week and will definitely be taking Malarone. We took it during a trip to Tanzania last year and didn't have any noticeable side effects. As has been mentioned, it is generally well tolerated by the majority of folks, but obviously important to have a conversation with your doctor.

The chance of contracting malaria in Roatan is pretty low......but the decision to take the drug should be based on your personal risk tolerance (for side effects vs. getting the disease). IMHO, the nastiness of the disease (even if a remote probability) greatly outweighs the risk of side effects.

 

[RTBDiver]

The chance of contracting malaria in Roatan is pretty low.......

I am wondering where you found any type of report or stats about this

 

[large_diver]

Certainly no stats, but enough general comments from various UK/US gov't health sites mentioning that it exists....and at least a few comments that it has been found on Roatan before. Given the relatively clean safety and side-effect profile and ease of administration of this particular drug, I feel like taking it makes sense FOR ME. YMMV

 

[Mike]

WOW, What drug was that for? I use chloroquine which is fine for Roatan and its like 6 dollars a pill at my pharmacy, If cost is really an issue you can also just get the one that you take the week before and then buy it on the Island for $1-$2 dollars a pill

I thought the last time I bought them, they were around $2 per person???

Eh, two dollars, two hundred... it was something like that.

 

[RTBDiver]

So you have no idea what they cost, what drug it was and post bad info on side effects, thanks for sharing

 

[go-scuba-dive]

You won't need anti malarial in Honduras, especially on the Bay Islands. I lived in Utila for 8 months, and traveled to Roatan. You definitely don't need malarial pills. There were no cases of malaria in Utila, and certainly not Roatan. If you do go to Utila, I would recommend bringing antibiotics. You're more likely to get a staph infection than malaria. And also, some anti parasite medicine.

Hope that helps.

 

[RTBDiver]

There were no cases of malaria in Utila, and certainly not Roatan..

what a A

If anyone believes this you may want to check out some land I have for sale