Travel Nurse

The Target pharmacist gave me a strange look when I handed her my list of prescribed antibiotics: Thirty tablets of Ciprofloxacin, 120 tablets of Doxcycline and 2 prescriptions for Azithromycin. "Do you need all of these filled at once?" she asked in a manner that suggested I may set up a clinic in the parking lot. Yes, please. After all, the last thing I want is to get sick on my trip.

Not that I don't expect some sort of stomach revolt. I'm an adventurous eater. I fully plan to eat bugs, brains and balls! However, beyond the obligatory Delhi Belly, there's a whole host of illnesses that one can get while traveling. And since wearing a Swine Flu face mask may get in the way of my photography, I need to have a plan. 

A quick trip to the Mills-Peninsula travel nurse was all I needed to get me into travel shape. With a copy of your itinerary, they can provide the latest information on required vaccinations, potential illnesses, outbreaks, symptoms and foods to avoid. Over the course of two visits, I've been poked, prodded and pretty much vaccinated for anything I could be exposed to, including some of these nasties that still exist in parts of the world:

• Typhoid Fever: Spread through contaminated food, drink or water. Symptoms include fever (over 103 degrees), rash, abdominal pain. Symptoms can reoccur even after treated.
• Yellow Fever: A virus spread by mosquitoes. It has three stages that range from headache, muscle aches and vomiting to heart, liver and kidney failure, seizures and coma. Most importantly, there is no specific treatment for yellow fever and it can result in death. Kenya and Tanzania require you provide proof of yellow fever immunization before arrival.
• Japanese Encephalitis: Spread by mosquitoes. Symptoms include headache, high fever, neck stiffness, stupor, disorientation, coma, tremors, occasional convulsions and paralysis.
• Polio: Viral disease that can lead to partial or full paralysis. Since the invention of the Polio vaccine, the incidence has been reduced; however it still exists in Africa, India and Asia. 
• Hepatitis A/B: Good preventative shot, in my opinion, although insurance may not cover it. 
• Tetanus:  A medical condition characterized by a prolonged contraction of skeletal muscle fibers, severe cases require intensive care. 
• Malaria: Symptoms include fever, chills, nausea and can lead to kidney failure, coma and death. While I had heard fun stories about the pills that give you hallucinations, I opted for Doxycycline. 

Getting my vaccinations helped me appreciate how fortunate we are to live in a country, where despite our differing opinions on health care reform, we can pretty much eat and drink without worry of food-born illness. We'll never see Polio in our lifetime. It's unlikely we, or anyone we know, will die of a mosquito bite. And if we need a rabies shot, it's a drive away, not an airplane ride away. We may not like how much it costs (my vaccinations were not cheap, nor insurance covered), but we can feel generally confident in our ability to get health care, medications and vaccinations, when needed. 

As I picked up my prescriptions, I felt a little more assured in my ability to stay healthy. While I may not be able to prevent everything that could happen to me, at least I can punch back against the dreaded Delhi Belly...

Special thanks to my tax accountant, Ursula Wisniewski, for referring me to the Mills-Peninsula travel nurse and educating me on the importance of being prepared. 

If you plan to travel internationally, this website is a good place to start: http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/