Today Jen and I went over to Stamford, Connecticut to visit the travel vaccine clinic. Honestly, we didn’t know what to expect in terms of price, or how many varieties of vaccinations would be recommended to us, and we were surprised to learn the shocking truth.
We gave a rough estimate of our travel itinerary, an exact one being impossible since we’re traveling with a one-way ticket and an open-ended plan. We told the doctor that we’d be going on a one year trip, to Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Singapore, Indonesia, Australia and New Zealand. She recommended the following shots:
- Hepatitis A/B. One of the most common diseases transmitted through blood, saliva (B) and food and water(A). Jen and I both have one or both of these, but we’re going to find out for sure if we need to get these again. I probably need to get Hep A again. The price tag for these shots: Hepatitis A: $96.00(series of two), Hepatitis B: $80.00(series of two).
- Polio. The disease that crippled Franklin D. Roosevelt, and millions of others throughout history, is still alive and well in other parts of the world. The doc suggested a polio booster shot, which only needs to be taken once. The damage for a polio vaccination? $65.00
- Typhoid. A serious disease caused by the bacteria Salmonella Typhi, causing high fever, headaches, weakness, stomach pains, rash and loss of appetite and killing up to %30 of the people who get it. Mostly picked up from contaminated food and water, it seems like a vaccination one wouldn’t want to skip. Add $80.00 to the bill.
- Rabies. The dog’s disease. apparently the skunks, rabbits, squirrels, cats, bats and foxes disease too. Did you know there are 40,000-70,000 rabies-related deaths around the world every year? In the rural parts of Southeast Asia, rabies is lurking in the shadows, ready to strike. If we’re going to do any hiking or adventure trekking, the docs are recommending we get rabies shots. The hard truth: a series of three shots, selling for $245.00 each.
- Japanese encephalitis. This is the one disease brought up today that I’ve never heard of. Like malaria, it is transmitted via mosquito bite and claims the lives of a bout %25 of the people infected. It’s a regional and seasonal infection, moving around different rural areas during the wet seasons. Another series of three shots, each one knocking us over the head for $285.00.
Total damage for all vaccinations, excluding Hepatitis: $1735.00. Ouch. We were definitely not expecting this. The reality of things brings up some questions.
Are all of these vaccinations truly necessary? Do we need to be prepared for rabies and Japanese encephalitis?
For you seasoned travel veterans out there, what would be your recommended course of action? We can drop over twelve hundred dollars off the price tag if we skip the rabies and the Japanese encephalitis, but is it safe to do this?
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
After a lot of research and advice we skipped the pricey injections, we don’t plan on camping in the wild for months on end or becoming vets anytime soon.
We got our freebies in the UK and left it at that, just hepatitis, polio and typhoid.
So far we’re ok although its only been a week haha.
Disclaimer: We are stupid and cheap. Please do not let us influence your decision.
Yeah, we got bunch of vaccines too. I don’t remember anymore what they were (and maybe didn’t remember either at the point I was injected). I only remember there are a several jabs in my right and in my left arms, all at once (except for some that I had to come back later). I think some were covered by insurance/benefits though.
Rabies is probably a good idea to take, I play too much with stray dogs. I don’t remember we ended up taking the Japanese encephalitis or not.