Vaccinations Part 1

Back in August, I paid a visit to the UCLA travel clinic at the ASHE center. Apparently, everyone is required to do so before they leave for travel to a third world/developing/contagious country. The clinic was painless. They gave me a yellow packet of all the diseases I could possibly contract and a list of precautions I should take when going abroad. It didn't list anything too out of the ordinary- Don't eat cold foods, don't drink tap water, wash all fruit with bottled water, maybe even remove the skin before eating, etc. When my physician came in, we talked about all the medication I would need while abroad, as well as vaccinations I would need to get. He also signed my health clearance form, and my travel clinic form. If you are traveling to Africa through EAP, you will need to have these forms filled out and mailed to the EAP headquarters (called UOEAP) to have it all processes.

During our meeting, the doctor gave me three malaria pills to chose from

1. Malarone
   
2. Mefloquine (Larium)
   
3. Doxycycline

and a prescription for 2 doses of traveler's diarrhea antibiotic. I need to review the malaria pills pro and cons, but I have a feeling that I will be going for Malarone. Though its the most expensive, it has the least amount of side effects. Plus, it isn't an antibiotic. My body sometimes has adverse affects to antibiotics when I take it for prolonged periods of time. 5 months is going to be a pretty long time so I think I'll pay a bit more for less effects.

He also gave me a list of vaccinations I need to get. Basically, after all my shots from grade school, all I needed was:

1. Hep A
2. Meningitis
3. Tetanus
4. Yellow Fever
5. Typhoid

He gave me an oral vaccination for typhoid that I will need take later on. He also told me to get the shots when school starts for insurance billing purposes. Since none of these vaccinations and medications were covered by my insurance plan, I will be paying for it all out of pocket. It will however, all count toward my $250 deductible. Now, I'm not that insurance savvy, so figuring out how this insurance stuff is a bit tricky. I called last week to talk to my insurance provider, and basically, when I meet my $250 deductible, most expenses that were previously uncovered by my insurance will be provided at 80% off, meaning the insurance company would be footing 80% of the bill. Sounds good. Thus, if I got all my vaccinations for the upcoming billing cycle, I would be able to get the HPV vaccination for about $40 per shot instead of $16o. Sounded like a good deal.

So I waited until now to get my shots. Today, I got my tetanus and yellow fever vaccinations. The nurse asked me if I wanted to get all 4 vaccinations, two in each arm. I thought about it for a while but decided against it. My reason being that I didn't want to have two sore arms for the rest of the week. It might interfere with my note taking abilities in class. Note taking as a physci major is extremely important, and I didn't want yellow fever antibodies to get in the way of that. :)

The vaccinations weren't too bad. I remember speaking with a friend who had just returned from Africa this summer, and that he had said that yellow fever was the worst vaccination he ever received. I went in prepared for the worst, but the shots itself weren't bad at all. I left the ASHE center with a yellow immunization card stating that I had the yellow fever vaccination. Apparently, the country only needs proof of that one. Yesss, this small 4x6 yellow card is better than lollipops and balloons combined.

I have an appointment to get my hepatitis A and meningococcal meningitis vaccination next Tuesday. I hear those aren't bad at all. Bring it on.