Health Preparations

If you look at all the health websites, they are all telling you something different. I got confused by all this information, so I used my trip home to  Germany in June as an opportunity to talk to my GP. It seemed that he doesn`t like India at all when he asked me: "Why do you want to risk your life at such a dirty place?". Nevertheless, he gave me a chance to talk to him. I had to give him the exact cities where I`m planning to go.According to that he would find out how to prepare for that. The thing was:I didn`t know where we will be going at that time, so I just told him that we are staying around Delhi. He sent me a fax with all the recommended vaccinations. The Tropical Medical Bureau is suggesting the same vaccinations as he did: 

Vaccines		Country Specific News
Your Destinations INDIA (country profile) Recommended For All Travellers Tetanus Poliomyelitis Hepatitis A Typhoid Trekking Hepatitis B Rabies Rural Tuberculosis Japanese B Encephalitis Meningococcal Meningitis Diphtheria Malaria Information INDIA:   W.H.O. report malaria transmission throughout the country. Prophylaxis recommended for all Travellers. Please consult your Doctor or Travel Clinic.

(from: http://www.tmb.ie/exodus/country.asp) 


I already got avaccinations against tetanus, poliomelitis, hepatitis A and meningitis. I decided to get a hepatitis A shot as this disease can damage your lever a lot and is transferred via food. It was just a simple shot and after 6 to 12 month I have to get a second one. I also decided to get a vaccinations against typhois. Nowadays you can get that in form of 3 tablets that you have to take at an interval of 2 days. 
I decided not to get a rabies vaccinations. Surya said he has never padded an animal outside and it never happened that they come up to you. He added that if an infected animal bites you, there is a shot that they can give you withing 24 hours and nothing will happen. Let`s hope the monkeys on the streets are in a good mood. 
The last problem is Malaria. Just as most of the pharmacies,  TMB suggests to take Malarone tablets before and throughout the trip. They should prevent you from getting Malaria, but just as any other vaccinations  there is no 100% protection. I decided that I will buy a small package over here, but the rest of them I get in India where they are supposed to be much cheaper. 


For your health preparation you should be prepared to pay about 150-200 pounds depending on your vaccination status. I would NOT recommend anyone to save money at that point because the money that you loose when you get sick over there will be much more than this. So be responsible and prepare yourself as best as possible, so that nothing will stop you from a great journey.