Hepatitis and B -is it really important?

kurdela

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Jan 23, 2009
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I'm movin to DR in 5 weeks and don't think will have time to arrange hepatitis a and b vaccinations. Is it really risky to go there without it? Can you have it done there? How long does it take? How many series? How much does it cost?

Thanks for any advice.
 

dv8

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Sep 27, 2006
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save your money.
there are no vaccinations against things you can get in here: parasites, amoebas, dengue and STDs.
never heard of anyone getting hepatitis...
 

jrhartley

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Sep 10, 2008
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thats quite bad advice if you dont mind me saying so...........you should have these injections even in your home country
 

zak023

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Feb 8, 2006
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Hep A+B

I had the both shots for A+B but it takes 6 months to complete the shots..You get 3 for B and 2 for A spread out over 6 months so be aware this is not a one visit to the doctor deal..It is 3 visits over 6 months..I recommend it highly...
 

scrubmuncher

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Jul 6, 2007
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The first piece of advice is rediculous. If you go to the doctor straight away you will manage to get covered. I had exactly the same time to get covered as you and managed them. It is a speeded up boost vac (I know it sounds wierd but it exists) that you get, they will put one in each arm and then ask you to come back just before you leave. You will complete full A cover and partial B cover, but as the nurse said to me Partial cover is fine, and 100% better than no cover.
I'd try and get in on monday, not that you will put yourself in any position to catch anything, but Aids and Hep C is quite common here along with alsorts of other stuff. Not your fault if you step on an infected needle, or drink bad water etc. Never hear of anyone getting anything, but I'm sure they do.
I'd get covered if I were you.
 

J D Sauser

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Nov 20, 2004
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Hepatitis is not equal amoebas or other parasites. In these (Latin American countries) most locals are immune because the get "infected" at birth or as babies and this is the only time one can make defenses for it. Maybe a reason one may not find too many locals falling ill with hepatitis. But they do carry it and people which don't have defenses against it CAN get it.

There have been quite some advances in protection against both hepatitis A and B in recent years. It's not EQUAL to a 99% vaccine but when the protection is repeated in 3 installments over a year, a pretty good protection is possible now.

I am not a MD, so this is not advice, merely a report of what I have been told in Switzerland, the US and here and describes the prophylactic treatment I have followed.

... J-D.
 

bob saunders

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As a Military(Air force)member that has travelled to many exotic locations I can tell you that Hep A & B along Tet/dip are the absolutely necessary shots to get.
 
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dv8

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yeah? then let's see how many dr1ers have it. i don't and i would not waste my time and money on that.
 

margaret

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I know someone who was exposed to one of the strains of hepatitis virus and developed an infection after eating in a unsanitary restaurant in Toronto. He went into a coma, lost his liver and finally had to have liver transplant. It's true what J-D says, in some countries many people are already immune because they've been exposed already. I had all those shots at a travel medicine clinic before I went to Iran where many people are already positive for hepatitis. (In one of the bazaar in a small city, I was horrified to see everyone drinking from the same cup near the water tap.) Hey not everyone washes their hands, just look at all the MDs spreading MRSA to patients.
 
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apostropheman

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An ounce of prevention...

yeah? then let's see how many dr1ers have it. i don't and i would not waste my time and money on that.
I had my shots before my first trip out of North America...don't leave home without them :D

It's basic common sense since it is widely known that Hep A&B are easily preventable by vaccination.

FYI they give the shots to school children here (Canada), free, at about 12 years old.

Anyone that might come into contact with another's bodily fluid/fecal matter, etc... for work or whatever should have them as a precaution. Paramedics, firemen, police, medical personnel as well as people visiting the Caribbean, South America, African, Asia or any developing or Third world country.
 
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bob saunders

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save your money.
there are no vaccinations against things you can get in here: parasites, amoebas, dengue and STDs.
never heard of anyone getting hepatitis...

You are correct that a vacination can't help you for the things you mentioned. Hep B is usually transmitted through sexual contact and thus could be considered an STD. They are many Dominicans with Hep B & C. Hep A is comon throughout the world. You have given poor advice in this case.
 

Matilda

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Sep 13, 2006
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Hepatitis injections are essential for here. As a former diving instructor throughout the world Hepatitis injections are the most important. My dominican husband''s mother died aged 43 of hepatitis A I think (the one spread through contaminated river fish) and I know around 12 people here -Haitians and Dominicans who have died from Hepatitis.

Get the shot.No contest.

Matilda
 
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MikeFisher

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DV8,
you may not read their stories here on the bord, but i could tell about a good number of expats caught by it, and it is not funny then.
just because a irish blooded redhead from philly never knew somebody from the same bloodline who ever got a caribe lad pregnant doesn't mean that all with a similar background can feel save and forget about the use of condoms.
Mike
 

Lambada

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yeah? then let's see how many dr1ers have it. i don't and i would not waste my time and money on that.

48 years ago when I was 18 I had the full works of shots (when I started travelling the world) & I have kept every single one of them current ever since, so yes, of course I was current before moving here, because keeping all these jabs current is part of my lifestyle and should be for anyone in a similar position. I've probably had a few more than were strictly necessary for the DR, but then I was in a yurt in Mongolia where there were rabied goats plus the folk healers 40 years ago in Upper Volta, Mali and Niger didn't exactly inspire me with confidence. On top of which the nomadic tribes often assumed we were the UNESCO medics so brought all their sick children to us, so we were handling a range of totally unknown (to us) illnesses.

I've posted elsewhere the full range of which vaccinations I moved here with but broadly rabies, diptheria, typhoid, meningitis A & C, polio, yellow fever, tetanus, HepA and when we first arrived I was current for cholera as well (you can't get the vaccine any more unless you're a researcher).

Partial cover is indeed better than no cover and you will probably also find, like I did, that malarial prophylaxis means a very mild case of toxoplasmosis if you get that too. There is also TB here, for those not aware.

Kurdela, use the search function to check on others' opinions also. dv8, you have really surprised me. Safer not to rely on local information for this one because a lot of times when people here tell you they have 'grip?' they do, in fact, have something completely different.
 

london777

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Depending upon which country you live in, protection against hepatitis A & B is either free or cheap, with no unpleasant reactions, so you would be crazy not to get it. As Lambada says, locals die of all sorts of diseases which are never identified and it is likely that hepatitis is prominent among them.

Hepatitis B is fairly hard to catch but if you indulge in certain (ahem) social practices this will increase the likelihood appreciably.

My understanding is that it is not possible to pre-protect against Hep C. Is that correct?

Also consider protection against rabies. You cannot protect against the disease in advance but you can get jabs which will buy you 24 hours to find a doctor once you have been bitten and then get the retrospective jabs. In a disfunctional society like the DR those 24 hours could be a lifesaver if you venture away from urban areas. I was bitten by a dog in a batey on my last trip which scared me as I had not completed the course of jabs before travelling to the DR. Luckily the bite did not break the skin.
 

scrubmuncher

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My understanding is that it is not possible to pre-protect against Hep C. Is that correct?

That would be right, you can't pre protect. Once you have had Hep C and undergone the treatment to get rid of it you will be protected for life against getting it again though. As the treatment and success rate is so varied it really depends what strain of hep C you have as to wheather you can recover from it. It's something like Strain 1 (most serious) 30% success, Strain 2 50% success, Strain 70% success. Cant be sure on those exact figures but round about that mark.
 

Charlielyn

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I got the shots a few years ago because I was not staying on resorts. Even if you stay only on resorts you should get the shots because of the workers.