Inoculations for Brazil?

We had the Yellow Fever Vaccine in 2006 and it is supposed to give lifetime protection. It is a bit unclear whether French Guiana will accept our 11-year old vaccine. If they won’t, we’ll stay on board that day. Also my doctor recommended I get Hep A and typhoid shots which I have done. She said the Hep A shot also gives some protection from Malaria. She did not recommend the oral meds for Malaria. Mary Jane

The Yellow Fever shot is a one time deal. I had mine in 1963 and it is still good. The problem is those 60 and over getting a shot today. NOT recommended, and even more so if you are 70 or 80.

We canceled because my wife has not had the shot, she is 73. Not going to jeopardize her.

Hey guys, called several travel medicine places in Houston, TX and was told the same thing- after 70 (which we are) they do not give the yellow fever as it is a live virus. Especially true with chronic diseases such as diabetes, husband with by-pass, etc. There is a risk of getting the disease from the vaccination. We will get a waiver and hope for the best. I will also contact Viking to confirm a waiver is ok.

We're taking the Brazil trip in December. I'm 66 and my husband is 71...Passport Health verified we were healthy and gave us the yellow fever vaccine (actually Stamaril) and we had no reaction. That was a week ago. We'll be taking Malarone also. We took it in June for an African safari and did "okay" with it...some hallucinations at night, but basically we were fine.

We are both over the recommended age....We discussed with our personal doctors. We discussed with pharmacist at the one place locally who provides this vaccine (he has injected in a whole lot of people, including people quite a bit older than we are). Medically they felt we would be fine. We had to order it because of the scarcity, but we had the regular YFV a few months ago and had no problems - but all this did not happen until we completed (at a cost) a very detailed application form online, which in turn recommended Typhoid, Hep A, Malaria, and standard vaccines be up to date, including influenza. It also offered up the YFV waiver due to our ages.

So it is a very individual decision based on varying circumstances and history. They DO give the YFV to people in their 70’s, and even greater than that.....we were a bit nervous because yes, it is a live virus (as is Typhoid and various other vaccines - which we already had)....but for us it was the right decision....that said, I know it isn’t right for all.