The Thailand-Laos border crossing

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  1. We just came back from four weeks in SE Asia – three of those in Borneo. The only vaccinations we bothered with were Hep A because we weren’t going anywhere that malaria had been reported. Hep A is transferred through food, so it only takes someone with Hep A and unhygienic food practices to transmit it. Most else is within our control – water, hand sanitizer etc. None of us got sick except from the common cold/flu that we picked up, so it is worth considering the flu vaccine. It doesn’t sound like a great time to be a foreigner in the Philippines though…

    1. Hi John, those colds can be a real pain, eh?! I’m looking forward to the cure. Did your doctor recommend any other vaccinations, or just Hep A?

      1. Yes it wasn’t just sniffles, it was gross chesty cough stuff that really laid us low. The kids threw up a couple of times due to the amount of muck in their stomachs.

        http://downunder2borneo.wordpress.com/2011/12/20/mt-kinabalu-home-stay/

        The doc basically punched in our destination and printed out the list pertaining to the destination. It is pretty over the top, so we just looked down the list and applied some commonsense and discussed it with him. The Hep A were pretty expensive so budget considerations were applied as well…

      2. Glad you all came through that! I’ve found having a look at the WHO website before heading to the doctor is useful; but since we’re pretty much all over the place once we hit a destination, we tend to take as many of the jabs as we can afford at any time.

  2. Good advice! I’ve been an expat in the Philippines for 12 years. I strongly recommend that wherever you are traveling, research the peace and order situation. And, drink bottled water!

    1. Ah, the water situation can vary so much! Bottling and shipping water seems like such a destructive practice to me, so we try and research the drinkability of local water as well. Sometimes it’s completely fine! Sometimes…

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