jkuok

I am leaving in 5 days and just realise i didnt get any vacinations i think i need to get yellow fever 10 days before...

part of a rtw trip so instead of a trip i guess i could just MR it however i cant change it to a later time due to conflict of my schedule.

Please help

Kushluk

Hi jkuok,

First, my experience:
About six months ago I visited all of the places you mentioned. (To be clear: SCL/GIG r/t, then later SCL/LPB, bus to LIM and back to the US). On none of these occasions was I asked for a yellow fever vax card, though I have been vaccinated. So this might all be nothing, really, and I think you can relax.

For your own health and safety, I highly recommend you get the vaccination, and if you can't get a card, ask the doctor to sign a letter saying you had one. I traveled as a Chile citizen, and no one said anything to me -- however it might be different rules for a different nationality, where vaccination is not uniformly employed for yellow fever. I doubt highly you will be asked, and if you are, it will be in La Paz.

According to what I read online (http://chous.cancilleria.gov.ar/en/node/5889 and http://www.msssi.gob.es/profesionale...aises_2015.pdf). Bolivia 1) requires it for travel to risky areas (or from people who come from risk areas), and defines LOW LYING areas of La paz as a risk area along with jungles (according to the Argentine source dated 2014). Brazil seems to have no requirement. Peru only seems to have one if you are going to the jungle. La Paz is very high in altitude, and you will not be going lower than that altitude for your time there unless you decide to travel quite far from the city.

So, I think you can relax. Get vaccinated, because prevention is best, but if you are asked, you can simply state you will be remaining in the high altitude city of La Paz and will not be playing Indiana Jones this time around.

jkuok

thanks Kushluk,

do you mind sharing whats South American's take on Zika Virus?

Whodunit68

Believe it or not, the rules vary depending on the type of visa and, as stated above, the places you visit. A yellow fever and others were required when I went to Brazil with a work visa. I have yet to be asked when on business or tourist visa in Brazil, Chile, or Bolivia (Bolivia was only a transit visa further illustrating the point).

I do not know if you will be asked for any of this in Doha. I often see questions like: have you visited any of the following countries in the past 6 months?...

Agreed, however, with "why take a chance?"

JohnnyColombia

According to Timatic, you do not need Yellow Fever certs if you are travelling from Brazil to Qatar. I did not check for Lima or Bolivia because I figured Brazil was the most likely.

South America is a big place, bear in mind that Aedis Aegypti does not like the cold, so you are safe at altitude or in the south (Argentina, Chile, Uruguay)

I have never heard of any mosquito vector diseases in Lima, and if you were to go to Cuzco that is at altitude. Same would go for Quito. Guayaquil I have no idea.

In Colombia, Andean locations are generally fine above about 1200m. Cartagena is not generally recognised as a mosquito hotspot but the same cannot be said for the Islas del Rosario or Isla Barú. Santa Marta and Tayrona is full of mosquitos.

Is the whole of Bolivia not at altitude? I think so. Brazil I have no idea, likewise Venezuela. I don't know whether Paraguay is "Brazil rules apply" or far enough south for mosquitos to not be a problem

I am not a doctor in case that was not obvious

EtoileFilante

FWIW, I went to Brazil a few years ago on my German passport, and was never asked about vaccinations. In that same trip, I also went to Argentina and Uruguay, and neither of those countries asked me for a vaccination card either.

I have since gone to Panama & Colombia with my American passport, and was also never asked about vaccinations (even though I did get vaccinated prior to leaving).

It's hard to predict what you'll come across at the borders (if the customs officer is in a bad mood, s/he can certainly ask for the card), so I'd suggest you get the vaccinations ASAP.

steveo

When I went to Brazil they made me show them a yellow fever card. Bolivia / peru didn't seem to care