The Clark Family's Amazing Adventures

Martin is a Guinea Pig

Two months to go and we are ticking off some of the must do things on the list for our family gap year. Top was getting the right vaccinations so we stay healthy and it turns out that even though we already make pretty good pin cushions we need a few more.

Maybe we were ‘sold’ but the description of getting rabies

and how quickly you need to get to a hospital after getting bitten (dug out canoes don’t go very fast) was a bit scary. Apparently kids don’t always tell you if they are bitten by a frothy mouthed dog or vampire bat so potential of added delay. I can just see the conversation:

Dad: Hi Ben, how was the village school?

Ben: Good

Dad: Anything interesting happen today?

Ben: No.

Dad: What’s that bandage on your leg?

Ben: Just a dog bite, they gave me some Calpol.

Dad: ?!xybd!!!

The common vampire bat, nice!

Yellow fever is a must as you need a certificate to enter many countries. The good news is that the thinking is now leaning towards lifelong immunity rather than every ten years so could be the last time.

We are going to take a needle kit but Hepatitis B is always a risk if you need treatment in remote areas. Luckily the thinking is also lifelong immunity so maybe another one never to be revisited especially if the kids get a booster in Australia.

Malaria is the other biggie and we are hoping Larium all round as it is only once a week and not every day. Typical it is the only one I haven’t used so I’m going to be given a dose to see how it effects me. Mo has had it before and kids don’t generally have a strong reaction so I will be the only guinea pig. If I sound like a manic depressive in my next post you know why!

The only other one we might get before Asia is Japanese Encephalitis in case we fancy swimming in some paddy fields but we are leaving that decision for later as we can pick it up in Australia if needed.

I went first and Ben and Lara watched with great interest as the needles went in and Dad put on that don’t worry it doesn’t hurt (much) look. Not sure it worked as they weren’t that keen when it was their turns! Zoe was a trouper though and won the bravery award although she did miss out on the Dad demo which may have helped.

I felt alright until I saw the bill. Quick question… how much each to get fully vacinated? £50 or £100 each? The bill for the first of 3 visits was £609 and the others won’t be much less! With anti-malarials we have an unexpected £2k hole in our budget before we even start! We shared a couple of plates of chips for lunch today, this might become a trend.