My daughter and I went to get flu shots yesterday and the nurse suggested that we get typhoid shots before we go to Paris this month. Since we are not travelling to a third world country, I'm not really considering it. Has anyone been told this before going to Paris?

A typhoid shot for Paris?? No, never.

That nurse probably doesn't even know where Paris is, I bet. Or maybe she's never traveled and thinks every place in the world is dangerous. There can be very small outbreaks of typhoid in industrialized countries in W Europe and the US still, although it is rare. It's nothing one would recommend a traveler about in these places, and you'd be just as likely to get it at home as in Paris, whatever her logic is.

The CDC has a good website, by country, with recommendations on vaccines for travelers. this is the page for France

http://wwwn.cdc.gov/travel/destinationFrance.aspx

Hi N,

Should you come down with typhoid in Paris, they will find someone to give you a shot.

I hope that you don't get the flu.

Enjoy your visit.

Thanks for the info everyone...I think she must just like giving shots!

Or maybe she said to update your Tetanus?

thyphoid shot unnecesssary for paris. also better iss the series of 4 pills(oral thyphoid vaccine) easier and give immunity for longer than the shot(5 vrs 3 years)

That is ridiculous! And as has been said before, the pills are the way to go nowadays..

If I had a nickel for all of the wrong and inflammatory information launched on the subject of foreign travel by people that have probably never been further from the US than Cancun...

Are you sure you said "Paris, France" and not "Concord, North Carolina"? Remember, the US Congress thinks that North Carolina is a third-world country that you must get immunized to come to....

Yup, all us knuckle-draggin', whiskey-drinkin', gun-totin', inbreedin', troglodyte rednecks. All that and we carry disease too! Wooo!

Like said above, check the CDC if you have concerns about vaccinations. I have never heard of getting typhoid to go to Europe?? That sound so out of whack. I was recommend by my doctor, that since we like to travel, to get the Hep A shots for everyone in the family. His logic was you can get it anywhere in the US, but outside the US, it is more common these days.
I also get the flu shot each year which is a good thing since you are flying.
Good luck

That's ridiculous! I'm going to Nairobi later this month, and the CDC doesn't even require a typhoid shot for that!

Don't do it. Honestly....

Having just finished my last typhoid pill last night for my trip to India, I say WHAT?????Paris no way and I travel there frequently every month. Besides,just an FYI -the typhoid pills cost me $74 for the 4 pills (live virus) through one of those "travel medical agencies". My stomach has been somewhat upset since taking them but they will last you 5 years as opposed to the shots which are only 2 years(dead virus). I think that the nurse was looking to make some extra money for the doctor?

This thread reminds me of a recent experience I had in South Africa. My friend had to have a finger-prick blood test while we were in CapeTown (she was on Coumadin). Her DENTIST told her that she needed to take along her own needles because ALL of the needles in SA were tainted with AIDS. The staff at the clinic got a good chuckle when she pulled out her bag of finger-prick-needles (so did I!) but they complied and all was well...

Imagine..her DENTIST told her! Who was probably friends with the OP's nurse..

Thirty years ago, here in the UK (or at least, where I lived), we used to get vaccinations for typhoid, cholera and one of the strains of hepatitis (B?) to go to continental Europe. Nowadays, nothing.

40 years ago (give or take)in the UK there was an outbreak of typhoid caused by an infected batch of corned beef from Argentina. As a result corned beef on the school dinner menu was always known as instant typhoid thereafter.....
I am about to tuck into an IT and Branston sarnie right now

Thanks everyone. I called our pediatrician and they said no on the typhoid. And since all of our Hepititus and tetnus are up to date we are good to go. I think the nurse that gave us our flu shots was a bit misinformed.

dutyfree fyi thyphoid id caused by a bacteria not a virus and the length of immunity of the shot is 3 years not 2. if you must post health info get your info straight