Staying Healthy in Egypt
 

Planning a Nile River cruise in Egypt for 2025. Will I need to get some kind of special immunizations for travel in Egypt? I have auto-immune disease so I have to be cautious. It's a Viking trip so we won't be going off the beaten path. Thanks for any suggestions or reassurance.

You might want to check the CDC website.

Welcome to Fodors. Your thread was moved from Tech Support to the Africa/Middle East Forum and tagged for Egypt

Thanks.

Two suggestions:
1. Check with your PCP.
2. Check with a travel clinic.

Thanks! I'll be doing that. It looks like the CDC wants you vaxxed up to your eyeballs and no way am I doing that for a twelve day trip.

If you do go it's wise I think to get comprehensive travel insurance.

Good luck.

I took a look at the CDC recommendations: https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/destina...-and-medicines. You are likely up to date for most of the vaccines mentioned but it would be good to review your immunization and health history with your MD or a travel clinic and get their advice.

My husband is immunocompromised and we recently learned he somehow became infected with Hepatitis B over the last few years but never felt sick. We were glad he had been vaccinated "up to his eyeballs" as he has never been ill on our travels and is rarely sick at home.

This discussion brought me back to thinking of my trip to what was then Yugoslavia in 1972 when I was 14. My MD recommended getting the smallpox vaccine even though the disease was almost eradicated. Wouldn't you know the largest (and last) outbreak of smallpox in Europe since WWII occurred in Yugoslavia during our trip. Our family was driving along a highway on a rainy evening and all cars were diverted to a health clinic (tents) set up on the side of a road. We were allowed to continue as we had proof of our vaccinations.

Where did you infer that the CDC wants you "vaxxed up to your eyeballs" when traveling in Egypt?
Haven't you had most of the recommended vaccines already (polio, etc)?

You are immunocompromised and do not want to follow the guidelines?

Which vaccine are you worried about?

Given you medical condition it would be madness to rely on the suggestions of unqualified strangers for such a crucial matter. Consult with your own physician who should have all the relevant information, vaccination records, existing medical records and will be able to advise you on what you should and shouldn't do.

Agree 100%.

I think most travel clinics keep up to date with current CDC recommendations.

In any case consult the pros especially when it comes to you health,

Keep in mind, travel clinics are in the business of selling vaccinations for profit. I realized that the only time I went to one & heard the list of “recommended” shots. Do your homework & don’t take their word for what you need.

MmePerdu, it depends on the travel clinic. Ours is part of our HMO and we usually pay $20 for the entire visit, whether we receive one vaccination or more. Some of our visits have been free. They certainly don't make a profit off of us but believe "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."

[QUOTE=KTtravel;17618647]MmePerdu, it depends on the travel clinic. Ours is part of our HMO and we usually pay $20 for the entire visit, whether we receive one vaccination or more. . . /QUOTE]

That’s, of course, a different animal. I was referring to independent clinics.

Hmmm. Health care is a for profit business. Such is not limited to travel clinics.

Sorry but I disagree with the generalization about them pushing vaccinations for profit only. The one we used was spot on in their recommendations. This is my professional opinion as a critical care nurse.

JM2C.

I didn't say "only."

So you keep saying. So no one else's experience counts?

I also said “JM2C” . If you know what that means than you will understand it’s my opinion. And you have yours. No more, no less.

So be it.

Hi jacketwatch, I did not know you were a nurse.

We had a long discussion on one of the Peru travel threads about the nature of travel clinics. It varies, both in terms of expertise (as in a tech reading the CDC website vs a specialist) and the profit motive.

Many US insurance companies offload their members to Passport Health for some travel medicine services. I agree that the OP needs to start with his MD. Passport Health does not have your medical record and only uses what you tell them.

Luckily I have Kaiser HMO which has their own travel medicine department and has access to my digital medical record.

I was sure to get my YF jab before I turned 60.

Yes, 36 years with a balky back and a right shoulder that fortunately responded to PT twice. :)

We actually used passport health before our trip to India 2022. They were recommended by our PCP.

We were candid about our health history. I thought their recommendations were appropriate. The shots we got were administered by Walgreens and covered by our insurance. PH did not give us shots so there was obviously no profit incentives for them.

The visit was not covered by our insurance, but I do believe the cost was only around $75 for each of us so I really don’t think that’s an overcharge. This fee is quite reasonable actually especially considering that you’re making measures to secure your health when you’re away. It’s no fun to get sick on vacation, especially when you’re so far away.

My wife got sick on a trip to India once. We flew to Bangkok for a vacation after that and by the time we got there, she wasn’t feeling well and ended up staying five days in the hospital in Bangkok. I must say the care was very good.

This is where I learned about travel insurance. I had travel insurance and it paid the entire bill for the hospital stay in Bangkok as well as the physician visits and Care render to her when she was in our hotel.

All the best.

Larry


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FWIW: I'm one of the people who participated in the discussion mlgb mentioned in a thread about Peru. I learned how very fortunate I am!

I go to the Travel Medicine Clinic at Georgetown University Medical Center in DC. A part of the Infectious Diseases division of that university's / hospital's Department of Medicine, several physicians provide travel medicine services through that clinic. The physician I see is an an M.D. with board certification in both internal medicine and infectious disease and an M.S. in clinical epidemiology; she focuses on tropical disease and is actively involved in research, education, and treatment. I've seen her several times and have always been impressed by her command of both individual and locality based risks and her ability to help me think through the risks and benefits of various possible interventions in light of my personal health. She typically uses the CDC website as a "teaching tool" while providing substantially more -- and more specific -- information than is available on that website.

My insurance does not fully cover her services or all the vaccinations I've received for various trips I've taken, but I don't think profit motive is at issue: She has sometimes encouraged me to get recommended vaccinations; she has also sometimes given detailed rationales for why I might want to skip certain recommended preventives for particular trips.

BTW, she mentioned that the number of residents training in travel medicine or tropical diseases has been relatively low in recent years -- not surprisingly, those who have specialized in infectious diseases have been a bit busy with COVID in the last few years. I have no idea how many physicians with advanced, specialized training provide travel medicine services in the US., but if it's hard to find an expert infectious disease physician for travel consultations now, I can only imagine that it will be harder in the next few years.