TB or not TB, that is the question
This morning, C & I got up bright and early to walk over to the International Vaccination Center at l'Institut Pasteur, in order to find out if there were any particular vaccines recommended for our upcoming vacations. I got quite a slew of them back in 2001 when I went to China, and C got a bunch free with his last military physical, but I figured it was still good to check in and see if the recommendations had changed. (I ended up getting the Typhoid vaccine and C got Hepatitis A).
But I was inspired to write this post as a PSA because the doctor we spoke with said most people don't even think about vaccinations before traveling. And she recommended going to a specialized place like the Institut Pasteur because your regular GP might not know about recent outbreaks in certain countries or that certain vaccines are needed at certain times of the year, etc.
Their vaccine center is open:
- Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday & Friday from 9am-4:30pm
- Thursday from 10am-4:30pm
- Saturday from 9-11:30am
It's all first-come, first-serve, and they recommend arriving early if you're coming on a Saturday. We got there at 8:45am this morning, and we were the ninth in line, so I don't think there's any need to arrive too early. (Unless you are coming during the busy period - June, July or August).
You'll get a ticket with a number on it at the front desk, and then be ushered into another waiting room. From there, you will be called up to a desk and you will be asked for your ID card and the list of countries you'll be traveling to. Then you sit back down again, fill out a short questionnaire, and wait for your number to be called again.
The doctor will run through your questionnaire and ask a few more questions about what you will be doing on your trip, and then you'll get the vaccines right then and there. To me, that's the second big advantage of a center like this - they have everything on hand, and there is no needing to see your doctor to get the prescription, then go buy it at the pharmacy, and then either go back to your doctor or a nurse to get the shot. (Which often means paying for two visits too).
At the Institut Pasteur, unless you want a special (longer) consultation, the doctor's visit is included in the price of the vaccine. Here are the prices of a few of the more common ones:
- DTP: 39€
- Hepatitis A: 43€ (x2)
- Hepatitis B: 26€ (x3)
- Typhoid: 35€
- Rabies: 40€ (x4)
In total, the whole thing probably took us an hour max, and now we should be all good to go for our trips this year!
Labels: Air travel, Tips, Vaccines
posted by Ksam @ 12:14 PM
9 Comments:
Yeah, I went to the Pasteur center down here before we went to Thailand. But they said that unless we would be going to the countryside and playing with animals, that we didn't need any. So we ended up not getting any vaccinations. Besides, the ones that we needed would have cost us 500+ €!
Whoa, that's a lot! I guess I'm lucky I got most of them when I was younger and covered by the university's insurance. Nowadays though, my job usually does require going to the countryside AND touching animals, so I figured better safe than sorry.
Well, I went to Thailand and touched A LOT of animals (many of them sick), and didn't bother getting the TB vaccine before. My doctor didn't say it was absolutely necessary, and I decided to take my chances :)
Ha, Crystal - I wasn't seriously considering getting the TB vaccine, I was just trying to make a medical joke....but looks like I failed!! I guess at least I made myself laugh. :)
Hi Sam, when I when to Thailand and Cambodia, I went to my French GP and got hepatitis A and TB-D-P vaccines. He also prescribed lariam (malaria) pills, I didn't take any because of the serious side effects. (ask for malarone if you go to a tropical country). I was glad I had Hep. A shot, I didn't have to worry about the ice in the drinks. The GP is less expensive than the Pasteur Centre and the CPAM covered the consultation, but not the vaccines.
Vadhana
sorry went not when, arg.
Wierd I got booster vaccines this week! And I did get the TB test done, it takes 4 visits to the clinic (if I went public it would have been free but they only had appointments in May) to take the two tests and two visits for lectures.
My arm hurts ;S
I do wish they were for the purpose of traveling instead of what I need them for (lab work)
Hurrah for trip to SEA! F and I will be heading to M'sia later this year and this is a good reminder that he needs to check into vaccinations before we leave.
Funny how I never think about vaccinations when I travel, then again I usually travel within Europe, so not a lot of major concerns as opposed to SEA, where I would have had vaccines before. Should check for boosters instead.
Experienced researchers and doctors have contributed to spread education and awareness on various vaccines like TB vaccine, hepatitis vaccine and HIV vaccine
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