My boy and I are about to put down a deposit for a 2011 hunt in Zim. My question is about vaccinations.

I have the Hep. A and B, as well as a tetanus booster, all good from 2008. I also know we will be looking into maerone or doxi cyclne for malaria.

What I wondered about is polio booster or yellow fever, etc., neccesary?

maddog

Yes, better to be safe than sorry!

This might be of help: http://www.shakariconnection.c...lth-before-hunt.html

Mad Dog,

Go to the soursce and visit the CDC website. Go t oZimbabwe and just make sure youare curent on whatever they recommend. Malerone seems to have the least side effects of the commonly used anti malarials and it's what I use.

Mark

If it's time for a polio booster, then by all means get it. Malarone for sure.

We just went to Zim. Our MD preferred Lariam for malaria, a three dose oral (this is new) preventative for typhoid fever and a prescription, which we filled, for Cipro. The latter is for an acquired infection or even an unexpected tooth infection which may occur. You do not want to need an absess drained in Zimbabwe, rather supress it until a US dentist can do the root canal. Take your own meds; bacitracin, immonium, ibuprofen, clean needle for splinters, etc. and any personal meds.

i would not take larium i know some people have no problems but i have and a friend with me did bad side effects, have taken malerone on 6 different hunts no side effects for whwt it is worth

I was in Chirisa in '93 and heard reports of yellow fever in Zambia. I don't see where it would hurt to use any possible vaccine available against yellow fever if it still is remotely possible that it exists in your area of Zim. Mosquitoes can cross the Zambezi without fear of the crocs. On the subject of Lariam (which I used with no bad effects whatever) and understanding that many people do have problems with it -I will beg you to ask your doctor to recommend another doctor experienced in tropical medicine who can give you the latest up to date on what to take for malaria. Please don't just rely on your regular doctor (who probably never saw a case of malaria in his life)to reach for his desk reference on what to take in Africa for malaria. I said, I used Lariam with no problems - Maybe there are better medicines today - I don't know. I do know that malaria is a very debilitating disease (my father contracted it in Panama and for over 40 years afterwards, had attacks every Spring -as if he had contracted a case of the flu. It's nothing to fool around with for whites not acclimated to Africa and warrants a lot more of your attention than whether you might get " Yellow Jack".

http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/de...ations/zimbabwe.aspx

I used Larium on my trips to Africa. Only had one bad moment the very first time I took it. Luckily I ignored the instructions and took it a day earlier otherwise my flight to Africa would have been eventful. I had no follow on problems that trip and later.

No problems boys, we will do the malerone/doxy. Took cypro over the lat time. Will do again. It's a bitch, my age to worry more about your feet/meds, than about guns, ammo, etc.


Mad Dog

One of the antimalarial oral prophylactics can possibly stain the teeth of kids under 12yo. I don't know how old your son is.

We innoculated our family against everything we could in 2008 due to the population flow across the borders. Both back and forth. We weren't isolated in a hunting camp though, staying with friends outside Bulawayo.

Gastric afflictions with symptoms similar to Diahorrea/Dysentry are your biggest worry so take at least two different types of treatment for Diarrhea and possibly a suitable anti-biotic. Remember to stay hydrated from a safe water supply.

A good Travellers First Aid book is invaluable.

quote:

Originally posted by Code4:
One of the antimalarial oral prophylactics can possibly stain the teeth of kids under 12yo.

Doxcycline is the one you are refering to I believe. Same is true of other -cyclines IIRC.

The last I looked at the CDC guidelines for Zim, they recommended Tetanus, Hep A&B, Polio, and Typhoid. They also listed Rabies vaccine, which is an unlikely occurrence, but I got it anyhow.

Yellow Fever is not required for Zim.

Doxycycline can cause tooth discoloration. Lariam can cause psychosis.

A side note on the cipro- it does have a rare side effect of making one susceptable to Achilles tendon rupture- rare, but known. Beware if you use it. (there are other antibiotics out there)

Best bet is to talk with your regular doc, discuss this all with them, and make your plan. Travel clinics tend to read the CDC and give you whatever without knowing you at all.

I've used Larium and Malarone on trips to Zim and didn't have a proglem with the Larium, but found that I couldn't get any sleep while taking Malarone. At first I thought it was jet lag, but after a few days of having to take a sleeping pill to get any sleep, I stopped the Malarone and the problem vanished immediately.

i can't take either larium or malarone, doxy has served well, just take it at night. if you do a search, there have been volumes of threads on this

ALL OF THEM

Get everything. I failed to get the rabies shots years ago and, naturally, was nipped by a stray cat of all things within two weeks of landing on the continent. Rabies shots in the developing world are no fun as you worry as much about getting something from a potentially used needle as you do about the bloody rabies! Get EVERYTHING you might EVER need before traveling...period! The only one you might pass on is the cholera vaccine as apparently the potential side effects might outweigh the dubious efficacy of the inoculation.