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My hubby and I are planning a vacation trip to Belize...not anytime soon, but it will be sometime in the next few years. I have a question about malaria, and tropical diseases in general.
People I know who have lived in tropical areas have told me that it's not good to get a malaria vaccine. They said it offered only limited protection, and if you have had the vaccine but get the disease anyway it will be much harder to treat. Is this true?
(BTW: These 'people' I refer to are my parents, who worked for the State Department after us kids grew up. They traveled all over, and this is the advice the SD gave them.)
I have questions about other diseases as well. From the CIA World Factbook on Belize, in the Major Infectious Disease section:
degree of risk: intermediate
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever
vectorborne diseases: dengue fever and malaria
water contact disease: leptospirosis (2008)
Dengue fever...hmmm...ya know, I'd rather not get a hemorrhagic fever on vacation! What can I do to mitigate risk of disease -- specifically, are there any vaccines we can get?
PS have any PFers been to Belize? How was it?
People I know who have lived in tropical areas have told me that it's not good to get a malaria vaccine. They said it offered only limited protection, and if you have had the vaccine but get the disease anyway it will be much harder to treat. Is this true?
(BTW: These 'people' I refer to are my parents, who worked for the State Department after us kids grew up. They traveled all over, and this is the advice the SD gave them.)
I have questions about other diseases as well. From the CIA World Factbook on Belize, in the Major Infectious Disease section:
degree of risk: intermediate
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever
vectorborne diseases: dengue fever and malaria
water contact disease: leptospirosis (2008)
Dengue fever...hmmm...ya know, I'd rather not get a hemorrhagic fever on vacation! What can I do to mitigate risk of disease -- specifically, are there any vaccines we can get?
PS have any PFers been to Belize? How was it?