Medical Precautions for Exotic Travel

One of the most important preparations for a trip to these areas is to get the proper immunizations. There's a company that specializes in this called Passport Health, with clinics all around the country, staffed with registered nurses. The closest one to me is at 81 Northfield Avenue in West Orange, NJ, where the staff person is Jamie Napolitano, RN. When you call to make the appointment she asks you your itinerary and has a spiral-bound printout when you arrive, indicating all the health dangers in each country you plan to visit. When you arrive she tells you your choices of type of vaccine, when you need to get them, etc. I need hepatitis A & B, tetanus, typhoid and malaria. The first two were injections she gave me on the spot, with a need to return for two more for hepatitis. The typhoid was an oral treatment, for capsules take on alternate days 1 hour before breakfast, and malaria was a prescription, amounting to ten more pills than days I'll be gone, which required that my doctor phone it in to the pharmacy.

It's not cheap: the initial visit plus shots was $439, and the two subsequent shots will cost $166 each. The malaria pills were $135 for 80  of them, but that's with Medicare. They are otherwise over $600. I mostly stay away from the healthcare system and maintain my health via diet and exercise, but I didn't want to take chances in countries where the climate is dramatically different than our own.

Jamie is friendly and supportive and very knowledgeable about the risks in the various countries.