Vaccinations

Going overseas means you come into contact with lots of things you wouldn't normally need to worry about. When it comes to vaccinations and immunisation, I made sure I spoke to my Doctor about what was needed to travel in South-East Asia before I left.

The list of things needed included:

• Japanese enchephalitis (injection)
• Hepatitis A & B (injection)
• Tetanus & Polio (injection)
• Rabies (injection)
• Typhoid (oral pill)
• Malaria (oral pill)

The injections cost between $80 and $120 each. The Typhoid pills (3 pills taken on day 1, 3, and 5) cost about $60. The Malaria tablets are required to be taken one per day for the duration of your stay in Malaria locations. These cost about $6 per tablet (so $6 per day) and you need to prime yourself three days before exposure. These prices are in Australian dollars.

My initial session at the doctors resulted in two injections: Japanese encephalitis and Hepatitis A & B. Of these, the Japanese encephalitis hurt the most. It stung when it was injected and then ached for a day or so afterwards and even left a bruise a week later.

The Typhoid pills gave me gas and caused some intestinal discomfort, but that means it is working, right?

I have not taken the Malaria pills yet, but will start a few days before I enter Singapore. I have been warned to take them in the morning and not at night because some people have seriously strange and disturbing dreams associated with them.

My final doctor session resulted in three needles. The first was the booster for the Hepatitis A & B, which stung when I got it as all needles do, but it was nothing compared to the other two. The Rabies shot, which only extends your requirement to get to a hospital for treatment by 12 hours, felt much deeper and consisted of significantly more liquid injected. It stung immediately and it took some time to inject the stuff into my arm. The sting died off relatively quickly.

However, the Tetanus and Polio shot was excruciatingly painful and it was not over after the needle was removed from my arm. It felt like I had been punched in the arm and could not sleep on it for two days after the injection. Even rubbing clothes over it hurt.

After these last three injections, I had a strange chemical taste in the back of my throat that I have had before with "serious" medication. It was also recommended that if I had the time, I should spread these immunisation treatments out over time, not to limit the pain and suffering, but to ensure there are no interactions between the various drugs being injected. The doctor made me wait for half an hour before I could leave to make sure I did not have an adverse reaction to the drugs.

So far, so good. I have not reacted badly, and will need to get my final Japanese encephalitis and Hepatitis A & B shot in Singapore. I have no idea how the health system works in Singapore, but I don't think I will have trouble finding a doctor to administer the required shots.