TDAP 10 year booster overdue

[outofofficebrb]

Hi,

I just realized I'm due for a TDAP (tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis) booster that was due mid August. I'm leaving for a month long dive trip to Indonesia in exactly 2 weeks. Part of me wants to wait until I get back to do the booster because I'm worried about possible side effects that might affect my travel plans or travel worthiness. 2 weeks is probably enough time to let it sort itself out but I will also not so shamefully and publicly admit that I hate shots, so part of me would like to delay the pain/soreness until I get back. So my question to you folks, and especially docs on the board...Will getting it at the end of October (basically, 2.5 months late) really make that much of a difference? Will I really put myself at a substantially higher risk for tetanus, diphtheria, or pertussis if I wait until then, especially where I am traveling? I promise not to touch any rusty wrecks.

Give it to me and tell me to toughen up while you're at it. *whimpers* Thanks.

 

[WetPup]

Toughen up princess

Edit: If you were travelling somewhere less remote I may think differently, but if you did happen to meet a rusty fish hook or something while diving in remote Indonesia...I'd want the shots. Why risk it?

 

[dewdropsonrosa]

Not a medical answer, but I had a TDAP booster in 2016 after a car accident with some scrape injuries. My arm was sore at the injection site for a day or two, but I dove with no issues three days later.

The protection offered by the booster likely outweighs the very minute risk of a dive-ruining side affect, and any one of those illnesses will ruin your trip.

 

[JohnnyC]

Non-medical advice, but from someone who travels professionally, not always in medically advanced locales. Get the booster. It's a small price to pay to cover your ass. If you're sore and sick for 3 weeks afterwards, I would be concerned that something else was wrong.

 

[Aviyes]

Just get the shot, the soreness only lasts a day or 2. Higher possibility of negatives by delaying than soreness. You never know what may happen.

 

[outofofficebrb]

Thanks guys...you’re right. I just needed a pep talk. I’ll call the office in the morning. Who wants to be on the phone with me to support me while I ugly cry on the phone when it happens?

 

[uncfnp]

The 10 year booster is the Td. The adult pertussis booster with the three vaccine Tdap, for now, is just a one time booster.

But to your question, get it done. It’s not so much that at the 10 year mark your immunity is gone but it is certainly suboptimal. With plans for an extended trip to less developed areas I would want my immunity maximized.

Just think of it as the price you pay for your upcoming trip when they come at you with that needle

 

[divinh]

Usually the person who gives me the shot pinches the area a few times before cleaning it and then talks to me about random stuff... then it's over...

 

[Aviyes]

Maybe you can talk the nurse into a lollipop afterwards.

 

[MykaDives]

I just got the TDAP booster in July on a Friday (ironically as preparation for an Indonesia dive trip in October as well), dove the next day. Sure it was a bit sore, but once I was diving I forgot about it.