Vaccines to travel to Colombia?

You don’t need training in immunology to understand the concept that there are no independent, double-blind safety/efficacy studies on vaccines.

Moreover, there is no requirement for a PhD of any kind, nor any other graduate degree, to exercise a conscience exemption on vaccines.

I don’t need an education degree to make the choice to home school my children.

I don’t need a degree in nutrition to make the choice to eat local organic foods, or to take a multivitamin.

I don’t need a PhD to make a conscience decision to carry a weapon for self-defense.

“Which has what to do with vaccinations for travel, exactly?”

What did your little juveniloid comment about folks who don’t blindly follow government vaccine policy have to do with travel, exactly?

“Go fund one then, or stop whining about it.”

Naw, that’s the job of the folks who make vaccines and/or convince us that we need to be taking them.

http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/destinations/traveler/none/colombia

Make sure all of your regular shots are up to date.

You should also get typhoid and Hepatitis A and B vaccines, and you will need yellow fever vaccine (this is the only one you will have to find out where to get it... the other vaccines can be gotten from your doctor).

the CDC mentions malaria, for which you take medicines. Malaria and yellow fever are mainly along the coast in the lowlands.

And don’t forget Lomotil and antibiotics for diarrhea. Insect repellant is a good idea. And I always got constipated in travel so take a mild laxative along, along with tylenol or similar mild pain killer.

Don’t pack the medicines loose: In sealed bottles or similar sealed and labled packets.

And NO ILLICIT DRUGS. They might grow them because they are poor, but they are very very strict about foreigners and drugs.

Finally take all your regular medicines with you, also with a label. A letter from your doc will help in case of problems.

And if you have had a nuclear scan for your heart or RAI treatment recently, you could set off the radiation detector in the US airport, so take a letter from your doc

Boil all water, or only drink beer, soft drinks, or coffee/tea. Use bottled water for brushing your teeth.

Colombia is a beautiful country, but then I traveled with family in local buses, and mainly in the high altitude areas. We also passed over the bridge to shop in Ecuador, but only for a day so I can’t help you out there.

Few people speak English so take a phrase book.

It’s called cost/benefit ratio.

Your risk is low in the USA, but much higher if you travel. As a doc, I predate a lot of the vaccines, so have actually seen these diseases, either here or when I worked overseas.

And in today’s world, all it takes is one illegal alien and voila, instant epidemic.

So if you want to take the chance, fine..

At least remember to get a tetanus shot. That is a lousy way to die.....

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