Reply To: JCCC: Happy Birthday To Me…. Hand Sanitizers, Flu Shots, etc.
P.S. — Just got back from the public health clinic, and boy, they put me through the gauntlet. They updated me on DPT (or TDaP; they transpose the letters but it’s the same assortment of organisms), MMR, Hepatitis A and B (I’ll have to come back for boosters to complete the series later), and typhoid — a series of 4 capsules you have to take every other day. (They insisted on the typhoid when I mentioned that I knew a resident of St. Thomas who might take me on a private tour and feed me local food.) Between now and the cruise, my immune system will be working overtime to build up immunity to all of those things at once.
They also gave me the usual warnings about not drinking the water, drinking beverages out of sealed containers only (and checking the seals to make sure they didn’t refill containers with tap water), not accepting ice, not eating raw salads or fruit without thick skins, etc. when on the islands. They also warned me against swimming or snorkeling in areas of the ocean which might be contaminated by sewage flowing out from a sewer system.
Again, I’m more worried about some young kid on the ship, who just has to see Shrek and the Kung Fu Panda even if he’s sick, spreading crud than I am about being infected on an island. But at least I am now ready for nearly anything the nurse thought I might encounter.