shots and disappointment
first the sad news. we lost our baseball playoff game tonight, which ends our season. Summer hockey is done, baseball ended WAY too early, and fall hockey doesn't start until the end of September... looks like we are sports free for a while. i guess we should have no excuse for training walks.
and now, on to the shots.
the travel clinic was great. really nice doctor.
1) hepatitis A and B. leanne had her hep B from school, she only need a one shot hep A. i had neither, so i need a 4 shot cycle. twinrix. one shot, then another in a week, another in a month, and a final in 6 months. you are covered 100% for a year after the 3rd. the forth shot makes it lifetime. i suppose we could have opted out, but this is a common disease, so we got the shot.
2) yellow fever. there is no current known outbreak of yellow fever, making this optional for tanzania. some countries, like kenya, require a yellow fever immunization record. this shot gives us more options should our plans turn sour. we both got it.
3) typhoid. we didn't talk about this much. doc says get it. we said ok.
leanne got hers now, i'll get mine later, as i need to have 3 visits anyway.
4) Tetanus, Diphtheria and Polio in one big super shot. all are relatively low risk, but they are covered by OHIP, ie, free, so why not. i'm here. well, leanne got hers, and i'll get mine in a month.
5) Meningococcal Meningitis. deadly, but super rare. you only get it from people, and that is very unlikely that our guides or other travelers would be infected, as you often die a few days after you get it. we chose to skip it.
6) Ecoli. we have a prescription for Dukoral that is a 50% protection from ecoli. i'm not sure whether we are going to take it.
7) Malaria. we have a prescription for Malarone which is a daily Malaria pill. we'll take those.
8) Altitude Sickness. we have a prescription for Diamox. Although it has unproven effectivness, i haven't read or heard (nor has our doctor) a good reason _not_ to take it. the side effect is a possible headache (which you will get from altitude anyway) and carbonated drinks taste funny. i'm ok with that. i think we'll take it.
9) catchall. we also have a prescription for cipro. just in case we get some other bug that we want some help fighting.
whew, that is it. i feel sick.
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