Vaccinations for India

In four trips to India in the last 7-8 years, we (2 adults, 2 kids) have never gotten any vaccinations. Only medications we carry are Tylenol and asthma stuff for my son (which we haven't had to use). I do know that lots of folks here do take a whole slew of vaccinations when heading to India - I'm sure your doctor or other sources on the web will advice you on what you should have.

My one suggestions is to carry anti-malarial pills if you can find them.

Somewhere on the state department web is recommended vaccinations for most countries. Also, you local country health department probably has a similar list. You don't have to be excessive but we always follow the guidelines and never had a problem. Of course, we didn't know what would have happened if we had not.

Check the CDC website and look under "traveler's health". Although I haven't looked at the India section, I doubt there are any specific vaccination recommendations (other than the same ones most Americans get), unless you plan to spend a lot of time around livestock or in slums. Depending on where you go and what you plan to do in India, you may need to take doxycycline for malaria prophylaxis. But if you're going with a tour group, I doubt it. Although the sanitation in parts of India is not up to western standards, they probably have the best medical system in the developing world.

Jorge,

As this site is primarily concerned with European travel, you may want to have a look at the Health section on the www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/index.jspa as I'm sure you'll be able to find information there.

In addition to the CDC, a couple of other sources you might check:

• check your local phone directory to see if there's a Travel Medicine Clinic in your area (your Family Physician may know of one).

• check www.iamat.org - you may wish to take out a membership for the trip, as the cost is very reasonable. They provide not only a list of english-speaking Physicians in various countries who will provide basic treatments for a set fee, but also current information on health issues in various countries.

DEFINITELY check your vaccinations to ensure that your Tetanus and other "essentials" are up-to-date. You may also need Malaria med's for the trip. I'd be a bit cautious if Lariam is suggested, as I recall some "cautions" regarding side effects (however I haven't checked on this recently, so perhaps these have been improved?).

Hepatitis A & B would probably be a good idea also. Your Physician will be able to advise further.

Happy travels!