Italy: Self-Vaccinations?
 

Last year i fell in Naples and bloodied my nose and at the hospital was told to get a Tetanus shot - the hospital said to go to a pharmacy for it.

I assumed that the pharmacist, in Florence the next day, would give me the shot.

But the clerk just handed me the vaccine AND a needle in a wrapper.

I asked i have to do this myself and he said yeh.

Is this common in Italy?

Being a chicken i declined the pharmacy shot and headed to the ER at the nearby Florence general hospital - after a few-hour wait.

Do Italians shoot themselves up?

I know that many folks with diabetes, etc. regularly do but having never done it before i was a bit alarmed.

In France you go to the pharmacy to get the vaccine and needle, and then go back to a doctor, or call a nurse to actually perform the procedure. Doctors don't have stocks in their offices, or at least our doctor doesn't.Never heard of anyone here being told to do it themselves.

Wish I had been there Pal, I would love to stab you!! :-))

just kidding.... ;-)

That is interesting, I'm anxious to hear any answers.

If it were pre-measured like an epi-pen, I would give it a go but otherwise, I think you did the right thing!

Well, I would be up the creek. I can't even pull a Band-Aid off.

the pharmacist, after i balked at doing it myself asked if i did not know someone who could do it - a traveling partner. He spoke excellent English - the pharmacy in the Florence train station.

I don't even know where to jab - arm or rear!

A long time ago I used to give myself allergy shots right in the most fatty part of my stomach. This is a lot easier to reach than the arm or the hip. I could do it again if I had to.

You should NOT give yourself a jab, unless you are medically or nursing trained or a diabetic and have been trained to do so. Apart from risk of infection, injecting air and accidentally stabbing yourself in the vein, injections have to be administered differently according to type and formularies, such as intradermal, subcutaneous and intramascular (such as tetanus booster). Injecting differently can seriously affect its effectiveness and can sometimes be dangerous.

Alec - thanks for confirming i did the right thing - i kind of thought i was wimping out as the pharmacist seemed so casual about having a friend do it if i did not want to do it myself

In case anyone is wondering I did have some training on giving myself allergy shots, but Alec does make a good point about how other meds should possibly be injected differently. When I first started doing my own shots it was a little scary to stick myself with a needle. But I got used to it and it became easy.