Medical


We used the Well Travelled Clinics at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine for the Vaccinations that we were not able to get at our GP's.

GP's differ greatly, one GP will not provide any Vaccinations for Travel, some GP's will provide them at cost, and some GP's will provide some for free - so check with your GP first to see what they can offer you before going to a Travel Clinic.

Our Practice Nurse, Heather Crossley, at our GP's was fantastic and very helpful.  She spent a lot of time with us and answered all the questions that we could think of.  Many thanks Heather.


GP
Free
3 x Hep A & B
1 x Typhoid
1 x Revaxis (Tetanus/Diphtheria/Polio)

To Pay
1 x Meningitis ACWY
2 x Cholera (Oral Sachets)

Well Travelled Clinic
3 x Rabies
2 x Japanese Encephalitis


Advice for and against having the Meningitis & Cholera Vaccinations was given to us by both our GP Practice and the Well Travelled Clinic, as well as our own research on the Internet.  We finally decided that we would play it safe and have the vaccinations due to the effects of contracting Meningitis or Cholera, even though the risk is relatively low in the countries we are visiting.


Malaria

Travel Doctor - great site with lots of information regarding Malaria, including different Regimes for different Regions of the world.

CDC - US site with Map and up to date information of Malaria presence - use the search option on the left of the screen to see country information.

We originally opted for Malarone until we saw the price - £46.99 for 12 tablets at the Well Travelled Clinic! - we would need to both take 1 Tablet each day - that's nearly £8 / day for 4 months!  Ouch!

Doxycycline is the one we selected in the end - its relatively cheap at 11p or 12p per tablet per day and can be used continuously throughout the trip.  Chloroquine PLUS Proguanil was considered, however we were advised that there is some resistance to the drug in the Thailand / Laos area and we would have to therefore swap to a different anti-malarial (e.g. Doxycycline) part way through the trip.