ABCs of Typhoid Immunization

When you’re visiting a foreign country, trying new and exotic local food can be one of the most exciting parts of your trip. Whether you’re taste-testing Cambodian bay chhar rice or Colombian sanocho soup, learning about new flavors and customs is an experience most travelers look forward to.  But in some developing countries, ingesting local food or water can put your health (and your vacation) at risk by putting you in contact with foodborne diseases like typhoid.  Don’t worry though, protecting yourself from this nasty illness is as easy as ABC!

Typhoid, also known as typhoid fever, is a bacterial infection transmitted by food or water containing the bacterium salmonella typhi. Though the names are similar, typhoid is not the same as typhus, which is caused by different bacteria. Typhoid symptoms are generally divided into four stages, which, if left untreated, each last about a week. In the first week, the patient experience fever, headache and cough, with possible stomach pain and bloody nose. In the second week, the patient has a higher fever, stomach pain, abnormal bowel movements and delirium. In the third week a patient may experience more delirium and dehydration, as well as possible intestinal hemorrhage or perforation, both serious conditions that can be deadly.  However, typhoid is most often not fatal, so if these complications do not occur, the patient’s fever usually reduces in the final week as he or she begins to heal.  After recovery, a small percentage of patients become asymptomatic carriers who no longer experience symptoms themselves, but can still infect others.

If you’re about to go on a big trip outside the States and want to avoid a painful month-long illness, you should find out if typhoid is a concern in your destination country.  The Center for Disease Control recommends the typhoid vaccine for travelers to most south Asian and African, as well as some South American countries, and is especially important for those travelers visiting rural areas with substandard water treatment protocols. You can visit the CDC’s website and talk to your primary care doctor to find out if the typhoid vaccine is necessary for your itinerary.

The typhoid vaccine can be given orally or via injection. The oral dose is a live, weakened version of the disease given in four doses, and the injected dose is the inactive version of the disease, given as a single shot.  Depending on your own health and any previous medical conditions, you should decide with your doctor which version of the vaccine is better for you.  One main difference is that the injected travel vaccination needs to be administered two weeks before travel and should be re-administered every two years, whereas the oral dose should be given one week before travel and lasts for five years.

Neither the oral nor the injected version of the disease is one-hundred percent effective, though, so it’s still important to watch what you eat and drink while you are away from home. Typhoid is mainly a problem when feces or urine comes in contact with food or drinking water, so frequent hand washing and cleanly food preparation is a key component of keeping typhoid and other food-related diseases out of your system.

So whether it’s the African savannah or the Andes Mountains, it’s important to visit a travel health provider before you go, to get vaccinated against typhoid and other infectious diseases prevalent abroad. If you’re based in or around New York City, a visit to the travel doctor NYC is a convenient and affordable way to get yourself up-to-date on your travel immunizations and information. At Travel Clinic NYC, a doctor specializing in travel medicine will consult with you one on one, and give you the ABCs of typhoid immunization and other information important to your health and safety abroad. You can even make a same-day appointment online at Typhoid immunization in NYC.

The Hepatitis Shots—Better Safe Than Sorry

Hepatitis—a sexually transmitted disease once under control and pretty much conquered here in America—has made a bigger comeback than Tony Bennett. Just like the old-time crooner, most people wrote off this disease, figuring times have changes, but a new generation has latched onto this STD much like Tony Bennett after his first Duets record. As Mr. Bennett has proved there’s no stopping him, and like his great career comeback there’s no stopping the potentially deadly disease hepatitis. In fact, only a shots can afford some sort of protection against this old timer made good again.

When speaking of hepatitis it is important to be specific. There are many different types of hepatitis—with a shots available for protection against all of them. Commonly, when people refer to hepatitis they are referring to either Hepatitis A or Hepatitis B. Since there are important differences between the two strains it is important to be tested carefully by a professional certified doctor.

Hepatitis A is a viral infection caused by the hepatitis A virus (or HAV). The virus is found in the stool of infected people and can be spread through the ingestion of contaminated food and/or water. Hepatitis A does not cause chronic illness. A hepatitis A shot is the best protection against it.

Hepatitis B is a viral infection caused by the hepatitis B virus (or HBV). The virus is found in the stool, and other body secretions that can contain blood (such as urine, semen and the blood itself). A vaccination is the best protection against it. Chronic illness is common with this strain of the disease.

Like with other viruses, once infected always infected. It is only through a shots that one can stop the transmission and avoid a lifetime of care and—in some cases—very serious complications, including liver cancer, and other liver problems later in life. In fact, it is estimated that ten to thirty million people this year alone will become infected with just the hepatitis B virus. To add to this frightening statistic, the World Health Organization estimates that over four hundred million others are infected already with hepatitis B.

In the United States, the numbers are rising and are estimated to include over five thousand deaths out of one hundred thousand new cases a year! Again, receiving a hepatitis B shot is the only way to protect oneself from this virus.

Hepatitis is transmitted most commonly by blood and other infected bodily fluids. This includes through unprotected sex (not that again?! Geez, how many diseases can human beings avoid if only we took the time and effort to use condoms while engaging in sexual relations? The number is sky high!), intravenous drug use, and other even more disturbing blood-to-blood activities. There is a dark underbelly to society where these things take place and if you even skirt the edges of it a shots is urgently needed.

Receiving a shot for hepatitis is only possible through a certified doctor. Travel clinics frequently offer these shots to their patients. They are affordable, easy and relatively painless to administer. If you are in any of the high-risk groups mentioned above, please think carefully about the pros and cons of receiving a shot.

If you are in the NYC area and would like more information on receiving help from a primary care doctor, please log onto Travel Clinic NYC. This professional board-certified, doctor-run facility is located just blocks from Grand Central Station and is therefore easily accessible to most New Yorkers. Call 1-212-696-5900 to arrange an appointment today. Don’t take chances if you don’t have to. They accept most insurance and have affordable rates for those not covered.