Shots

For those of you who were wondering whether or not to spend the extra money to get the immunization from your own doctor, as I was... Don't! Unless you are out of time, and cannot get an appointment at NYU Health Center. I was lucky to get in because of a cancellation, but I overheard the receptionist telling another student the first available appointment wasn't until after January 5th (which is my arrival date in Africa).

The global travel counseling session takes approximately an hour and you'll learn about what's safe to eat (thoroughly cooked food which is prepared in front of you) and drink (boil your own water or drink bottled). You'll learn about petting stray dogs (Don't. Rabies can be asymptomatic). You learn about all the options for medication, as well as the side effects. This is very valuable information. For example, there are two options for anti-malarial treatment, and I went for the more expensive option. At $6-8 a pill, and not being covered by insurance, it's going to run me a fair amount of money. However, I only need to take it for 7 days after my return to the States. The less expensive option requires that you take 28 days worth after your return and you're likely to have extremely realistic, violent nightmares during the course of taking the pills. 

I did go the less expensive route with the Typhoid inoculation. I decided to take 4 pills (one every other day) rather than get a shot because it is less expensive and lasts for five years. The shot option only lasts for three years.

So in total I got five shots: Meningitis, Yellow Fever, HepA #1, Influenza #2, & Tetanus-Diphtheria. I was also given Immodium for "traveler's diarrhea" (to be prepared) , and a script for Atovaquone/proguanil (Anti-malarial) which will be ready on Monday.