Travel Vaccines near $2,000
 

I have a relative who was quoted near $2,000 for vaccines to India from www.PassportHealthusa.com Does anyone have a cheaper alternative?

If it were me, I'd contact my primary health care clinic rather than going through an outfit like this.

I see that website's list:

None of these is required for a trip directly between USA and India. Now, look at the CDC website. They break it down into styles of travel, and list vaccines at "most travelers" should get and those that "some travelers" should get. Your relative is probably not going to travel in a style where they'd risk cholera. Traveler's diarrhea? Sure. Cholera? No.

Now, some of these, your relative is likely up-to-date on anyway (or at least should be): Did they get their yearly flu shot? How old are they? Are they of a generation where they had chickenpox, measles, mumps, and rubella as a child? Or are they young enough that they were vaccinated against those diseases? Have they had their Tdap booster within the past 10 years? This is all pretty routine,

Does your relative have prescription insurance? If so, oral typhoid should be a covered item. A pharmacy will likely have to order it, but that's no big deal. It's usually a quick turnaround. It's taken as four capsules, one every other day until gone. It takes one week after the last dose for immunity to build up and it is good for five years.

Again, how old are they? Shingrix, the new shingles vaccine is indicated for people 50 and over and is probably covered to some degree by their insurance. It is given as two shots, the second one anywhere from two to six months after the first. If they're over 50, they should look into it ... after they get back from their trip. I don't think there's anything specific to India that makes shingles more likely.

I'll ask again: How old are they? If they're of senior-citizen age, being vaccinated against pneumonia should be pretty routine and covered by Medicare.

Is your relative likely to come into close contact with animals? Rabies is recommended only if that's the case, and for most travelers, it is not.

Yellow fever is required only if you come directly from a country where yellow fever exists. USA-India-USA? No worries.

Hep A is a good idea in general. Hep B? Well, are they likely to share bodily fluids or needles with other people? Probably not.

Any normal westener will already have the standard MMR and Tetanus shots in them. Always good to refresh. Hep A & B are good to have anywhere in the world. Typhoid and Cholera are optional for India unless you are planning on doing missionary work in a slum ;)

hepatitis a & b....that's pretty much what my family & friends are particular about before coming to india....

I would be more concerned about coughing up a lung due to the Delhi air than about getting vaccines in preparation to visit Delhi. But even the air quality is likely to make people more susceptible to getting some diseases that could be vaccinated against to some degree or another.

But I'm a normal American who has had to follow normal vaccine regimens for school, slightly different for work and some even for paranoid acquaintances of various sorts. :D