Immunizations for Bali
 

Hi Everyone,
We are planning a trip to Bali in May and are wondering what immunizations we should have before making the trip? We are only visiting Ubud.

H1N1 is a given and Hepatitis A&B are very likely.

We are up-to-date with routine shots such as, measles/mumps/rubella (MMR) vaccine, diphtheria/pertussis/tetanus (DPT) vaccine, poliovirus vaccine, etc.

Any thoughts on Typhoid or any others?

FWIW, this is what our government recommends for travel to Indonesia (in general): http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/destinations/indonesia.aspx

Thanks in advance for your ideas,

Vic


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Vic's travels: http://my.flightmemory.com/vogilvie

The cdc recommendations are considered the gold standard.

You should have Hep A even if you are staying at home. I consider typhoid a necessity, as it is a food and water-borne illness (like Hep A) endemic in SE Asia and many other tropical areas.

As noted on the cdc website, Japanese Encephalitis and rabies vaccines are recommended only in special circumstances, which are quite unlikely to apply to you.

Where there any you had questions about?

Do you think H1N1 really necessary? Yes, I'm fully aware of all the hype surrounding H1N1 but bird flu was the hype when I went to Thailand in 2004 but I don't remember any vaccine available; I went and returned without incident.

H1N1 is a different virus than the bird flu that was present in 2004. That avian flu had almost no person-to-person transmission. Almost all transmission was via contact with infected birds, their corpses or their droppings. H1N1 is very easily transmitted - even more easily than the seasonal flu - via droplets in the air, touching, etc.

I would consider both a seasonal flu vaccine and the H1N1 vaccine to be smart investments in a healthy trip.

Kathie,
Many thanks for your suggestions. We have already started in on the ones we need. H1N1 was the first!
-Vic

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Vic's travels: http://my.flightmemory.com/vogilvie

H1N1 may not be necessary but it's a statistical game. If one were at home one may decide that a, say, 1 in 10 chance of contracting the flu is acceptable. Heck, I'll just take a few days off work, feel bad, and try to catch up on the reading.

That same 1 in 10 chance when one is on vacation looms a lot larger. Only you can decide what level of risk you are willing to take, based on the situational consequences.

I concur with Hepatitis A and Typhoid.
I would also make sure I was covered with a good medical evacuation policy.

And stay away from monkeys.

I live in Bali and have not had any special vaccines. I haven heard of anyone with Bird Flu/Hepatitis/Typhoidetc.. Dengue fever which is mosquito borne is the only real issue but no vaccines

katherine, bird flu is not an issue anywhere these days (nor is there any vaccine for it). H1N1, is, of course, an entirely different illness.

Hep A and typhoid are both endemic in Bali. And of course, Bali has recently been plagued by an outbreak of rabies.

I would suggest you consider at least Hep A for yourself. I consider it a vaccine even those who don't travel should have as there are outbreaks world-wide, not just in third world countries.