Blogging everyday is harder than I thought it would be and I'll probably rattle on about things that most won't even care to read about, but here it goes anyway.
The travel clinic called to tell us that the doctor wants us to wait six months before having the last shot. They said we needed to wait six months in between. Really? Apparently they wanted us to come in in August to get round 2 and then wanted us to have the 3rd round 5 months later. So why do we have to wait six months now? So Dave and I did a little research on our own and here is what we discovered.
The Hep A immunization should be administered in two doses with the second dose at least six months after the first. If that's the case, then we should be getting our next one in January since the first was in July. What they gave us in July was the Hep A/B combo and what they gave us yesterday was the Hep A/B combo. Apparently it didn't matter that we had just had the first one 4 months earlier. And they had planned to do all 3 as combo shots from the beginning, so the combo wasn't done because we didn't come in 30 days later.
The Hep B immunization schedule is a little more involved. The 2nd dose needs to be administered a minimum of 4 weeks after the 1st. To me the operative word here is 'minimum.' We got the first one in July which means the soonest we would have needed to go back for #2 was August. We waited until November. The 3rd shot should be given at least 8 weeks after the 2nd shot. This means we could go back the end of January to get the 3rd round. Hum, that's the same time we should be able to go back for the Hep A.
Seriously, I don't get it. We hope to have been to Ethiopia and back by the time we would need round #3. And if we get it right before we leave, how much good is that going to do? There has to be a good reason for waiting at least 30 days in between shots. It's all so confusing and I really think I need a second opinion on this.
And then there are all the other recommended travel shots to consider. Honestly, since we are not planning to travel outside Addis Ababa, I think we'll just stick with the Hep A/B and be done with it, but would love to hear thoughts from others who have traveled or will be traveling to Ethiopia in the future.
Wasn't that exciting reading?!!!!!!!
Friday, November 20, 2009
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5 comments:
They do the shots the same way everywhere. We just went back through them all the same way, with breaks in between. It must vary from vaccine to vaccine on how long it takes to obtain immunity and for your body to recognize it. Do as many as you can before you go. I would also at least consider the Yellow Fever. Its only one shot and IF there were an outbreak in that area, you would be stuck in country for awhile. Far shot that it will happen, but not worth the risk to me. We even got Typhoid just because we could for free
It is all confusing to me too. Good luck figuring all that out. :)
Hey don't worry to much, I didn't get ANY shots (nada) and survived ET just fine ;-)
Ok, here's what I know (don't quote me)about the Hep shots...With Hep A you have short-term immunity within about 6-8 weeks. It is the 2nd shot (I'm more familiar with the individual vaccinations) that provides you with long-term immunity. With Hep B there are 3 vaccinations to make sure that people seroconvert (start producing antibodies to protect you.) For some reason some people don't ever produce detectable antibodies after Hep B vaccination. I think the specific timing of the shots has to do with this. Hope this helps. Hey, every shot takes you one step closer to Naomi!
Oh, the 2nd vaccination for the Hep A is usually given at 6-12 months. So, this would probably be in your 3rd injection for the A/B combo.
You might try the manufacturer's website for the Twinrex combo vaccine for more info about vaccination timelines. The one month and six months for the second and third injection is pretty standard. Good luck : )
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