I was in Langkawi this last week. Weather was hot and humid - 90+ degrees and humid, but no rain - had a great time.

Biggest health problem I'd worry about would be sun burn.

Hi Everyone,

We are planning a trip to Bali in May and are wondering what immunizations we should have before making the trip? We are only visiting Ubud.

H1N1 is a given and Hepatitis A&B are very likely.

We are up-to-date with routine shots such as, measles/mumps/rubella (MMR) vaccine, diphtheria/pertussis/tetanus (DPT) vaccine, poliovirus vaccine, etc.

Any thoughts on Typhoid or any others?

FWIW, this is what our government recommends for travel to Indonesia (in general): http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/destinations/indonesia.aspx

Thanks in advance for your ideas,

Vic

I lived out there for 6 years. It's no more needed out there than the US. Now if you are going to other rougher parts of Indonesia, that's a different story

Moving this Thread to the FT Asia Forum.
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Obscure2k
TravelBuzz Moderator

This thread just reminded me that I am due for my Typhoid pills. I think they only provide immunity for 5 years.

First, a comment on Hep A and B shots. I urge you to get the shots done now; technically Hep A is a two round inoculation, apparently 6 to 12 months apart; Hep B is a three round inoculation, second round a month after the first, the final round at 6 months. You won't get full protection however getting in that first round will give partial protection - better than nothing. Also note that it takes I think a month before the effects of the first shot take effect. Personally I think that these Hepatitis shots are a good idea especially hepatitis A; this virus comes from unsanitary conditions (contaminated food, unclean water). Hep B comes from contact with infected blood products; presumably you won't run into this. FWIW there is a blood test that you can take to check whether you have preexisting immunity to both forms of hepatitis; if you do it now, maybe you'll find you don't need the shots. Or (assuming you get the shots done now), wait until April to do the test and see if the immunity has kicked in, and how much.

A slightly different topic is that one thing we worry about at least here in Singapore is dengue fever; I'd presume this to be an issue in Indonesia as well. There's no vaccine against this, however it's a virus that's carried by mosquitoes that breed in still/stagnant water. So bug repellant would probably be worthwhile to bring and use.

I'm not a doctor but I had Hep A and B inoculations done first round in the US, latter rounds in Singapore when I moved to Asia a lot of years ago. In looking over my vaccination record, the only other inoculation I got was for Japanese encephalitis. You don't need this because you won't be here that long - besides, at the time the vaccine wasn't approved in the US. Every thing else in my record are the garden variety vaccinations. In any case I'd suggest you check with your family doctor - or ideally, a doctor who specializes in either tropical or travel medicine for better advice.