Vaccinations

When we decided to come to Bolivia we were aware that we would need to get vaccinations of some description, but were not sure of the actual requirements or obligations. We had the luxury of having Jonathon McPherson in our congregation who happens to be a GP. He put us on to a site which was very helpful - typing CDC into Google will get you there, the centre for disease control in the US. It is an awesome site because all you have to do is select the section dealing with travellers, then select your destination country, and it gives you requirements and recommendations for various parts of your destination country.
   Coming from NZ, the only actual requirement for vaccinations, is yellow fever. Without it NZ is not that keen to let you back in the country! All the rest are really optional, although some are strongly recommended, such as typhoid and hepatitis B. anyone thinking of moving or even travelling overseas could do worse than read the recommendations on this site. It has the added feature of being able to choose to read as a layperson or as a clinician, an interesting insight into recommendations to doctors. Jehovah's Witnesses would do well to research the rabbis vaccine thoroughly.
   It actually costs quite a bit to get the vaccines that are recommended. It costs close to $1000 for the whole deal ( per couple) the yellow fever vaccine costs $160 per person, and be prepared, they will tell you, you can die if you accept it! When we got ours we had our granddaughter with us, and the doctor said " by the way you realise  1 in 10000 people die from taking this vaccine? You will need to sit here for 30 mins so we can observe you." You should have seen the look on Lois' face! She said if I had known that, I would have had a coffee before I came here! The mark of a true coffee addict. The doctor continued "if you react to the vaccine there is a small chance we can save you!" Great, let' s do it!
   We actually did need it so we went ahead. Only designates travel doctors can administer the vaccine  and he checks to make sure you haven't recently had another live vaccine. The injection was honestly completely painless. Then we sat there being "observed" waiting to drop dead and leave our granddaughter to her own devices. It turns out we didn't die, so we thought what the heck, and went berserk getting all the vaccines we thought we needed, and went home feeling like pincushions. Our granddaughter bailey was starting to get quite well informed medically after our initial blood tests to check for hepatitis immunity, vaccines and further blood tests due to a mix up at the lab. Anyway, now we were raring to go!
   Next post we go back to Tarija and the start of the real adventure.