Today we all had our vaccinations for our upcoming trip to Vietnam in December.
Before having an vaccinations, I do my own research and don’t just rely on what the doctor recommends. To be honest I think doctors over recommend what is required, but thats my opinion and everyone has to do what is right for them.
For this trip I narrowed it down to Hepatitis A, Typhoid and Tetanus.
I was so worried about Myla having her needles. She is such a drama queen that I lied to her and told her we would just talk to the the doctor about the needles we needed. Before we went in I took her to the shop next door and let her choose a treat to have later (ie after the needles).
Lucky for us when we saw the doctor she said that Myla had already had her Hep A needle from when we went to Phuket when she was 18 months old. I then recalled that I had her booster Hep A soon after to give her protection for life. This was great news as otherwise she was going to have to have 2 needles, 1 for Hep A and 1 for Typhoid as you can’t get a combined one for the kids like you can for adults.
Regardless as soon as Myla realised she had to have a needle she started screaming 🙁 . Unfortunately we had to hold her down to have it. But as soon as she had it she says “was that it? It didn’t even hurt”. So much for all they carry on!!
Andy and I both had to have Hep A and Typhoid. We have not had the booster for Hep A to give us protection for life, however provided we come back in up to 18 months and have another shot we will then be protected for life. I think we will definitely do this! Typhoid on the other hand only lasts for 3 years, so this is something we will need to have again in the future.
Andy also needed to have tetanus has he had not had it for many years.
The doctor also talked to us about malaria tablets but I am not a fan of these – they don’t protect you from getting malaria anyway – just assists in fighting it if you do get it. I prefer to lather myself in bug spray and not get bitten in the first place.
Please don’t take my thoughts in this post as medical advice, this is just what I find to be suitable for my family, but everyone is different. For further information about what vaccinations you might like to have check out travelvax.
Anyway the count down is on 7 weeks til we leave for Vietnam!