Philippines Books

A Quick Look At A Question Many Ask Before A First Visit.

I am not a Doctor or qualified medically any further than a fairly competent First Aider with a fair amount of trauma management experience courtesy of the Army, scuba diving, sailing and getting
around a bit.  I had a full set of “jabs” as we called them way  back in 1968 before accompanying my father on his posting to Singapore with the Royal Air Force.  When I joined the Australian Regular Army in 1978 I went through the full regime of just about every shot in the book except Yellow Fever and Anthrax.  Later, when I volunteered for active service in Namibia (South West Africa) as part of the UNTAG Force I was given that all important Yellow Fever jab and a few more besides!  Talk about sick!  I’m not sure which jab did the deed (the smart money was on the Cholera jab) but one of them laid me, and everyone else, pretty low for a day or so.  Of course the Army gave us the jabs on a Friday
and before the effects took hold, announced we had the weekend free. Free to roll around  in our beds and groan, vomit and so on!

Since those long ago days I have travelled a fair bit in South East Asia and all over the Philippines and have never needed to show any vaccination certificates or have ever been advised to get any.  I have
a friend who was caught on a bus in India once by a UN WHO team of injector freaks!  Apparently the bus was stopped and two guys with grubby white coats and face masks got on and started  injecting
everyone on the bus with this vaccination gun. Same needle for all of course!  My mate was frantic trying to find his yellow card (international vaccination certificate) to prove he had already been given everything under the sun but the Hepatitis or HIV/AIDS that communal needle was probably spreading!  He came close to smacking the jabbers and bailing out through the back window but finally he was able to convince them not to inject him and his girlfriend.

Horror stories like that are common in India, but to my experience nonexistent here in the Philippines.  I have had Dengue Fever, but you can’t immunise against that anyway.  I am sure Typhus is lurking somewhere in the sewers, awaiting a flood or landslide but since I find little to fascinate me in slum areas, the risks are low.  Smallpox and any other similar disease is fairly well controlled and I doubt you would catch it.  Distemper may be something to worry about, or is that only dogs that catch that?  Be aware of course that Rabies occurs here (Australia is rabies free so we tend to be ignorant of the disease) so watch out for monkey bites and dogs acting strangely.

I would be more concerned about Tetanus from standing on a rusty nail while wearing flip flops than anything else.  Make sure your tetanus shot is up to date, I think they last only 5 years or so.  They are available here very cheaply so don’t panic if you are reading this on the airplane enroute to Manila!

There are courses of vaccinations for various types of Hepatitus, I believe.  I also have been told that you need to take the course long before leaving home, the shots are spread out over several months and if you contract the disease in between the first and last shot you’ve wasted your money.  Please, correct me if I am wrong and feel free to email in more up to date or accurate info!  Hepatitus can be avoided by applying good hygiene habits and watching what and where you eat, but I have been coming to the Philippines since 1988 and lived here constantly for over 2 years and haven’t had any problems bar the odd bout of food poisoning.  Nothing I haven’t suffered back in Sydney, either I might add.

Malaria is always a possibility but a rare one and the prophylactics available are hardly worth the effort in my opinion.  Some require you take them before, during and after the trip and others are daily, some weekly and of course there is no guarantee you won’t catch a new  strain the treatment isn’t effective over!  Cover your arms and legs after dark and use a bug spray!  When it comes to Dengue, that’s a different species of mossie, so spray and cover during the day time, particularly
in the wet season.  I treated the symptoms with paracetemol for the aching back pain and lots of fluids, plenty of rest and an eye kept on my gums in case it turned haemorrhagic.  If you do start bleeding, then go to a hospital as they can at least keep your plasma levels up or whatever they do.

Other than that, I really can’t see how a series of vaccinations will do you any good other than maybe as a placebo to calm your apprehension of journeying into the unknown.  I am open to correction from professionals and those who know more than I do on this subject, in fact I welcome it!  If I am wrong, then please correct me.  If you are not sure then go and get professional advice and take what precautions you are advised to take.  Meanwhile, few things in life are ever fatal!