Typhoid prevention
 

We're going to Botswana in Sept., staying at Wilderness Safaris camps. I know the CDC recommends typhoid shots or pills. Have most Fodor travelers been inoculated? We've been told that both the shots and pills will make us sick.

Hi,
My trip to Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda is in October and I went to my doctor and he gave me a script for the pills. I just filled the prescription but have not taken them yet so I am not sure how I will react to the medication. I plan to start them within a few days. They cost me $48.00
for four pills and had to be ordered thru my pharmacy. I'll let you know how I make out.

The new oral vaccine/pills for typhoid are very unlikely to cause the side effects that the old injection sometimes did...that said, in all honesty, if you are ONLY going to WS camps in Botswana, I really don't think you'll be at much risk for typhoid.

After all my trips and having most inoculations and always taking malaria meds, my physician wrote a script for the Thypoid pills this time.

I didn't fill it. So still aren't protected against. Besides these pills protect you for a period of only 4-years at most.

The really important ones are Tetanus, Hep-A and your malaria meds. It has to be your decision.

DH and I are very risk averse so we took the typhoid pills for our upcoming Tanzania trip.

Neither one of us had any side effects (except maybe stress of remembering when the heck to take them--every other day, keep them in the fridge, an hour before eating....what a pain!)

I too am going to Botswana, not till Sept-:-(. I went to the travel doctor, and asked what to take. I took the typhoid pills, no side effects at all, and I usually have a sensitive stomach. I would take them- rather safe than sorry!! JMA- Suzic

My husband and I had everything before our trip to Kenya in '02. We had the oral typhoid pills and suffered no ill effects at all. We also had tetanus boosters.. yellow fever and every recommended shot you can take. Didn't experience a single bad side effect. We were extremely glad we took the tetanus booster, as my husband got an alarming chaffing wound while horseback riding near Lake Nakuru and knowing he had recently had all of his shots took a lot of the worry out of that. Also, just by way of an FYI.. types of Hep are epidemic in South West USA.. it never hurts to be immunized against it. We took malarone and plenty of Deet.. were glad to do it as malaria is a real killer.