Argentina - Vaccinations?
 

We are going to Buenos Aires, Iguazu Falls and probably a day trip to Colonia at the beginning of August...what is your opinion on vaccinations needed? I think they are unnecessary, based on where we will be, but my travel partner thinks otherwise. Any thoughts???

www.cdc.gov recommends yellow fever immunization and malaria prophylaxis for Iguazu.
M

hi,
i posted a message above about this very topic. my fiance and i have been back from costa rica for 2 weeks and after 1 week back we both got sick, me with stomach problems for 5 days and he was hospitalized today. he's been sick for a week now with "flu like" symptoms and they're running tests for Dengue Fever, Malaria, Hepatitis A, and Typhoid, and they're leaning toward Typhoid.

We took Hep A and B, and Yellow Fever Vaccinations, and Malaria Pills, but not the Typhoid Vaccination which is recommended by the CDC but wasn't by our doctor. The lesson here is these diseases are real and you can toss the dice if you want to but why? I would get any and every vaccination that is recommended by a DOCTOR and the CDC, not by a bunch of people on this website. It's better than spending a week or two in the hospital. Also, I would get the vaccinations ASAP so they have time to get into your system. It's just an opinion, and we seem to be the only people on this site who have gotten sick but that's how infectectuous diseases are- rare and sneaky.

One last tip- of course avoid ingesting any non-bottled water, whether in a restaurant or while swimming. This could have been our problem.

Yes, but Costa Rica is a long way from Buenos Aires, and they are worlds apart in terms of what to expect and what is needed in terms of vaccinations. You might as well say you need the same vaccinations between visiting London and visiting Beirut - which are actually probably closer together. In Buenos Aires, the water is perfectly drinkable, you don't even need to go with bottled water, unless you feel more comfortable.

The CDC's only recommendations for vaccinations in Argentina, as mikemo noted above, are for yellow fever and malaria, and only if you're going to be spending time up in the north part of the country towards the border with Brasil. And, that was the concurring of my doctor in New York before I headed this way, who checked it out with a tropical medicine specialist at one of the local hospitals (not that Buenos Aires is tropical, even remotely).

Thanks for the replies! I decided to get the vaccinations since our itinerary is still a little up in the air and we may end up in a location where it is advisable.

We're going to all those and more in the (their) Spring and have no plans to get further immunizations (current Hep A/B; dT; polio, but remote Yellow fever - the complications seem to be increasing among those >60 and with any history of thymic problems).
We have used Ultrathon daily in the Darien, Panama and Costa Rica and will use same in Iguazu.
M (MD: SMdA, Gto., MX)