Travellers' Health Services-Scam or Legit?

Post date: 19-Jul-2009 21:54:44

On May 23, 2009, Colin and I visited the Travellers' Health Services center in Edmonton. I haven't done this post until now because I haven't been able to make time to read through the myriad of information they gave us. Our appointment was an hour long and cost Colin $70.00 because he refused to receive any vaccinations we had to pay for because they seemed like a scam to him and unlikely that he would contract these diseases on the trip. I think he really annoyed the nurse with his answers, but it was amusing to me. She would ask "Do you want this vaccinne?" Colin's response: "No." Nurse: "No, you don't want it or no you don't think you'll need it? I highly recommend you get it." Colin: "No."

Since I am the more paranoid of the two of us, I had a hard time immediately deciding whether or not I wanted a vaccine. The nurse would spew information at us really fast for about 5 minutes and then would ask us if we wanted the vaccine. For example, our nurse gave us information about Tick-Borne Encephalitis (TBE). If you see a tick burying into your arm you should remove it with tweezers and wash the infected area immediately. Also, bring the tick with you or take a picture and then seek medical attention. Some tick bites can kill you within 24 hours. We are at risk for ticks in Italy, Germany, Greece and Russia if we're in dense forest areas near rivers in these countries. We're thinking that this is pretty rare, but we might want to take precautions while we're geocaching which will probably be the only time we're in a forested area and maybe we will be for the odd tour here and there. The TBE shot is $96.00 and we didn't get it.

Another type of Encephalitis is Japanese Encephalitis (JE) which is not caused by ticks but is caused by mosquitoes and if you're biten by a mosquito carrying the viral disease it could cause brain damage or even death. Even though, we'll be in Japan for a month we won't be in too many rural areas for very long, so we'll just be careful. JE also exisits in Guam and Southeast Asia. We didn't receive this vaccine either. It's $125.00 per shot and you need 3 shots. Crazy.

We're curious what the vaccinations are that people in other countries have to get before they come to Canada. As far as I know, our only real risk is West Nile Virus, but who knows what people are told. Also, I am sure the people who live in these countries are not rushing out to get vacinated against JE and TBE.

We received quite the education on Malaria and added Malarone to our list of prescriptions. We need to take it in Palawan in the Philippines. Specifically we'll be taking it when we're in the tropical paradise also known as El Nino. Hey, even paradise has its flaws.

In our walking pharmacy bag (which is the size of one large Ziploc freezer bag), we're carrying two antibitoics for diarrhea which we hopefully won't have to use. If we do have to use it, we can take Cirpofloxin, but if we're in Thailand we must take Azithromycin instead. The bacteria in Thailand is immune to Cirpofloxin.

In the end, we both received Tetanus/Diphtheria because we were eligible to get these for free. I received the Typhoid shot which is good for 3 years. Typhoid is a bacterial illness that is spread by contaminated food and water. It's less common than Hep A. We also have our Hep A and B shots and the measles, mumps and rubella.

We also talked about Tuberculosis (TB) and were warned that we should avoid hanging out near people who are coughing. Hmm let me see this could be rather difficult when we're travelling in the following confined spaces with recycled airs: planes, buses, ferries, boats, etc. However, apparently the risk of getting TB on a plane is low, so that is good to know. I guess you can also get it from unpastuerized dairy product too. I had the Tuberculin skin test on May 23, 3009 and then I went back on May 26. I do not carry the germ and the test was negative. Eight week after we return, I need to have another test to ensure I didn't contract it on our trip.

Another interesting concern we learned about that I have never heard of before is Ciguatera. It sounds like it might be related to smoking based on the "Cig" part, but it's actually a disease associated with eating fish that contain a poison. It's caused by a plant that contains toxins and then the fish eat the plant and pass the poison up the food chain. My booklet says to avoid eating Grouper, Snapper, Jack, Barracuda, Moray eel and to not eat fish that are longer than you arm (hmm this may be hard to know). I am thinking that this is pretty rare and I have eaten the first 3 types of fish numerous times throughout my lifetime and I am still fine.

So, in the end Colin still thinks it was a scam to visit the clinic and I think it was pretty legitimate. They also gave us many interesting booklets to read, advice and a booklet distributed by the consular affairs A Guide for Canadians Imprisoned Abroad. We are not going to get arrested abroad though, so don't stress. Although, I still have nightmares about that movie Brokedown Palace. Another great movie to watch if you want something to keep you up at night before you travel is Transsiberian.