Yellow Fever Immunization for Embera on Panama Canal cruise. Advice?

[lovestheH20]

We are cruising to the Panama Canal in October 2019.  I just consulted with our local travel medicine experts and because we had scheduled an excursion to see the Embera Indian Village outside of the canal, and because of our ages, I would need to be immunized for Yellow Fever, but my husband would be unable to because of his age.  The immunization is hard to obtain, I would need to drive 4 hours to get it.  It has severe side effects listed.  Because of this, we opted not to do this excursion.  I am disappointed. However, I would really like to hear from others who have done excursions on the 10-day round trip partial transit Panama Canal Cruise.  We are interested in the locks and history.  I do not want to sit on a bus or train for long periods of time.  Thanks for your input.

[vino100]

11 minutes ago, lovestheH20 said:

We are cruising to the Panama Canal in October 2019.  I just consulted with our local travel medicine experts and because we had scheduled an excursion to see the Embera Indian Village outside of the canal, and because of our ages, I would need to be immunized for Yellow Fever, but my husband would be unable to because of his age.  The immunization is hard to obtain, I would need to drive 4 hours to get it.  It has severe side effects listed.  Because of this, we opted not to do this excursion.  I am disappointed. However, I would really like to hear from others who have done excursions on the 10-day round trip partial transit Panama Canal Cruise.  We are interested in the locks and history.  I do not want to sit on a bus or train for long periods of time.  Thanks for your input.

 

We did the embera excursion and did not need a yellow fever vaccine. 

[Shelldor]

20 minutes ago, lovestheH20 said:

We are cruising to the Panama Canal in October 2019.  I just consulted with our local travel medicine experts and because we had scheduled an excursion to see the Embera Indian Village outside of the canal, and because of our ages, I would need to be immunized for Yellow Fever, but my husband would be unable to because of his age.  The immunization is hard to obtain, I would need to drive 4 hours to get it.  It has severe side effects listed.  Because of this, we opted not to do this excursion.  I am disappointed. However, I would really like to hear from others who have done excursions on the 10-day round trip partial transit Panama Canal Cruise.  We are interested in the locks and history.  I do not want to sit on a bus or train for long periods of time.  Thanks for your input.

I am unable to have the vaccine.  Our local travel medicine expert advised that I should spray my clothes with permetherin and use mosquito repellent with Deet on any exposed skin.  We also plan on seeing the Embera Indian Village.  I am sure this would be adequate for you also.

[Colo Cruiser]

35 minutes ago, lovestheH20 said:

We are cruising to the Panama Canal in October 2019.  I just consulted with our local travel medicine experts and because we had scheduled an excursion to see the Embera Indian Village outside of the canal, and because of our ages, I would need to be immunized for Yellow Fever, but my husband would be unable to because of his age.  The immunization is hard to obtain, I would need to drive 4 hours to get it.  It has severe side effects listed.  Because of this, we opted not to do this excursion.  I am disappointed. However, I would really like to hear from others who have done excursions on the 10-day round trip partial transit Panama Canal Cruise.  We are interested in the locks and history.  I do not want to sit on a bus or train for long periods of time.  Thanks for your input.

We did this tour about 15 years ago on the Coral.

We were never told or advised that we needed one

Currently as far as I know you do not need a YF vaccination for the Princess excursion.

There have been many posters here on CC that have given reviews and posted on that excursion and I have not seen it mentioned.

I have never seen it mentioned in the tour details either.

I get the YF every 10 years for work/travel.

I have never heard of severe side effects. 🤔

I am sure it affects people differently so I suppose that is possible.

Hard to obtain? Never heard that either. Who told you these things?

 

[Steelers36]

Colo... why do you need it every 10 years?  I was advised my shot was for life.  I know there was another that would not last and it was the only one I could get in my area in Ontario.  So I got the shot in Florida instead.

 

There can be side effects from the vaccine but I never felt a thing.

 

YF is a lot more prevalent now in the Americas than 15 years ago, so maybe it is advised now?  People can look up advised or required vaccines on the internet.  I recall when we did the around South America cruise, YF was advised because some countries required it if you had come from certain other countries (again Google is your friend). 

 

 

IDK how old the OP is, but my wife was advised NOT to take the YF vaccine due to another medical condition and she received a signed waiver in case anyone needed to see it.

 

 

 

Edited August 3, 2019 by steelers36

[cruzsnooze]

I went on an Amazon river cruise and did get yellow fever vaccines however if you don't need them go on your excursions and take a few precautions. We WASHED our clothes in permetherin which last 2-3 washings. We used a deet based mosquito repeleant. Also wear long sleeves and long pants and secure with a rubber band so insects cannot sneak in and wear shoes not sandals. Also a safari type hat with netting to the shoulders. We were on the Amazon a week so it didn't seem extreme but for an excursion I can see where it would seem like a lot to do. If you do go on your excursion bring benadryl cream and capsules.

Edited August 3, 2019 by cruzsnooze

[Colo Cruiser]

3 minutes ago, steelers36 said:

Colo... why do you need it every 10 years?  I was advised my shot was for life.  I know there was another that would not last and it was the only one I could get in my area in Ontario.  So I got the shot in Florida instead.

 

There can be side effects from the vaccine but I never felt a thing.

 

YF is a lot more prevalent now in the Americas than 15 years ago, so maybe it is advised now?  People can look up advised or required vaccines on the internet.  I recall when we did the around South America cruise, YF was advised because some countries required it if you had come from certain other countries (again Google is your friend). 

 

 

IDK how old the OP is, but my wife was advised NOT to take the YF vaccine due to another medical condition and she received a signed waiver in case anyone needed to see it.

 

 

 

The NHS advises the yellow fever vaccine provides lifelong protection for most people. It explains on its website: “Booster doses and new vaccinationcertificates used to be recommended every 10 years for people who continued to be at risk of the infection, but this is no longer necessary in most cases.

 

Mine is required every 10 years for work as I travel around the world.

[Steelers36]

4 minutes ago, Colo Cruiser said:

The NHS advises the yellow fever vaccine provides lifelong protection for most people. It explains on its website: “Booster doses and new vaccinationcertificates used to be recommended every 10 years for people who continued to be at risk of the infection, but this is no longer necessary in most cases.

 

Mine is required every 10 years for work as I travel around the world.

OK.  Thanks.  I get it.

 

[Musky Ike]

9 hours ago, vino100 said:

 

We did the embera excursion and did not need a yellow fever vaccine. 

Same here, and it was one of the best excursions ever. 

[knbcruisers]

We really enjoyed this excursion. It did lot require any vaccine . I would just concentrate on proper mosquito repelling practices if you are concerned. Not sure when you are traveling. We went in March which is the dry season so less mosquito 🦟 activity. I don’t remember any serious bug issues.

[riffatsea]

We are seniors and I did the Embera excursion last December.

There is NO need for Yellow Fever vaccine!!

The excursion was an amazing experience!!

I just used normal mosquito repellent and truthfully did not see any bugs at all.

The people in the village are quite healthy and no one on our excursion got sick at all.

Your local travel medical "expert" does not have local Panama knowledge and so may think that all jungle areas are the same. I highly recommend the excursion to everyone!

[lovestheH20]

Thank you kindly for all your responses! Now to convince my husband that we will be just fine without the vaccine! I am not sure where our local travel medical folks got their info. but it was quite an extensive interview.

[Steelers36]

9 minutes ago, lovestheH20 said:

Thank you kindly for all your responses! Now to convince my husband that we will be just fine without the vaccine! I am not sure where our local travel medical folks got their info. but it was quite an extensive interview.

Maybe they like selling vaccines to the overly cautious?

Edited August 3, 2019 by steelers36

[crawford]

10 hours ago, lovestheH20 said:

Thank you kindly for all your responses! Now to convince my husband that we will be just fine without the vaccine! I am not sure where our local travel medical folks got their info. but it was quite an extensive interview.

Did a 15 day on the Coral and saw a grand total of one fly the entire time. No to the vaccine.

[Aus Traveller]

14 hours ago, lovestheH20 said:

Thank you kindly for all your responses! Now to convince my husband that we will be just fine without the vaccine! I am not sure where our local travel medical folks got their info. but it was quite an extensive interview.

I think there are a few explanations. The doctor you consult has to take a cautious approach and they have a business selling vaccinations. In my experience, they look up the information on vaccinations for a particular country without taking into account that you will only be there for several hours during the day. You will not be living in the village for an extended period, drinking the village water, eating their food and encountering the insects that are more prevalent in the evening.

 

Some vaccinations such as yellow fever and malaria carry with them the risk of unpleasant or serious side effects. Unless it was an absolute requirement to have the YF vaccination, I would be taking other precautions. Use insect repellent (if possible one that has DEET as an ingredient) and wear long sleeves and along pants.

[Flowergirl56]

We will be on the Island Princess for the Panama Canal cruise in October 2019.  We are planning on taking the rainforest  aerial tram tour out of Limon.  I have an auto immune disease so I will need to be cautious and will check with my doctor on what they suggest.  I have purchased the deet wipes and will also purchase the spray for my clothes.  That leads me to my question, has anyone done this excursion?  What type of clothes and footwear do you suggest?  Would sneakers be ok?  Water shoes are suggested on other tours but not this one.  Thanks for any suggestions.

[geocruiser]

CDC info for Panama.

https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/destinations/traveler/cruise_ship/panama?s_cid=ncezid-dgmq-travel-single-001

 

For Costa Rica

https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/destinations/traveler/cruise_ship/costa-rica?s_cid=ncezid-dgmq-travel-single-001