Will be going to Borneo, Bangkok and Phuket in November. Ordered malaria pills but read about Hepatitis A and Typhoid vaccines. Is that necessary? We'll be there 2 weeks.

Food and water issues (contamination, maintaining food at safe temperatures, hygiene on the part of food handlers -- for example, vendors may not have access to water for washing hands) are definitely an area of concern in this part of the world.

Hepatitis A vaccine is 98% effective and long lasting -- it's a great investment for anyone planning to travel outside Western Europe, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan. Typhoid vaccine is not as effective -- but the risk is fairly high on the Indian subcontinent and in SE Asia. While treatable with antibiotics, Typhoid Fever can make you sick enough to really mess up your trip. So it's probably a good idea as well, depending on how risk averse you are.

While you do have malaria risk on Borneo, pills are not generally needed in Bangkok and Phuket...although flooding may promote mosquito breeding? Don't forget good insect repellant -- risk of Dengue Fever from daytime biting mosquitos is higher than malaria risk.

mdtravelhealth.com

Your countries...

Hep A for sure Typhoid controversial

Not for me personally unless eating a lot of street food

Food/water preacautions are essential to prevent all types

of Travelers Diarrhea #1 cause of disability ruined trips

Take care of those carefully no need for Typhoid for me..

Happy Planning!

Get HepA and later,it's booster. Take 4 typhoid pills instead of the shot as the protection lasts five years instead of two.

You should have the Hep A vaccine even if you stay at home, IMO.

I'm surprised to read that qw doesn't opt for the typhoid vaccine. While it is "only" 80% effective, there is antibiotic resistant typhoid in SE Asia. And typhoid, like Hep A, is a food and water-borne illness. Street food may be at higher risk because of lack of hand-washing facilities, but there is no guarantee you won't contract it in a restaurant. We always make sure our typhoid vaccine is up to date. Like HappyTrvler, we opt for the oral vaccine.

given the current flooding problems around bkk you should recheck with a travel clinic

Excellent advice from rhkkmk - consult a specialist Without wishing to be alarmist, flooding can bring with it a whole host of other disease possibilities as sewage contaminates water supplies - cholera, typhoid etc. as well as increasing the incidence of dengue fever, malaria.

The whole point of immunisation is to prevent disease or at least reduce the risk of contracting substantially so I have no idea why qwovadis is against getting typhoid immunisation - perhaps he could enlighten us? For me it would be essential.