An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure

I believe in immunizations.


There are serious infectious illnesses that were common when I started medical school but are no longer a concern in Canada. Polio was still around when I started my training, and this scourge has been "officially" eradicated worldwide. One of the first children I resuscitated as a medical student in the ER died later that day of measles. I saw literally hundreds of children with invasive H flu infections. I know how deadly infections can be and I know that immunizations work.  

I've travelled a lot and I've always made sure to keep my immunizations up to date. In preparation to travel around the world in 1974 I was inoculated for smallpox, typhoid (3 shots), cholera (2 shots), typhus, yellow fever, and the plague. These immunizations are either no longer offered or are administered as different and improved vaccines. The latest preventative therapy for cholera is Dukoral, a liquid ingested weekly for two weeks prior to travel and which offers protection for about six months.  

Like almost every Canadian of my generation I have a smallpox scar on my upper left arm. The scar implies immunity. However, on a trip to Kenya in 1979, my immunization permit did not include a record of immunization with Smallpox. They refused to let me into the country unless I submitted to an immunization at the airport in Nairobi. My scar on the arm was not proof enough. Since then I have traveled with documentation, although these records no longer seems to be checked.  


For my trip to Haiti in 2010 I updated my status for diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, typhoid, measles, mumps, rubella, H1N1, and cholera.  All I need for this trip is more Dukoral for cholera. Cholera is not currently a concern in Nicaragua, but, I believe in immunizations, and an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.