tetnis shots - TravelPUNK Backpacker College Student Budget Travel Message Boards!

KaseyCaye · 08-18-2006, 03:44 PM

how essentail is it to have a tetnis booster before you travel? I'm not going to the congo or anything, just europe so is it super important?

What I'm a wimp when it comes to needles!!!

**kingcrazylegs** · 08-18-2006, 05:44 PM

Its totally worth having! Getting it in an emergency situation can be a lot worse.

foofiter · 08-18-2006, 06:28 PM

Get it. In fact you should get all you can. Shots suck but its better than the alternative....

Just make sure you turn away and close your eyes when they do it and its no sweat. Thats what I do.

Foo

KaseyCaye · 08-18-2006, 06:35 PM

come on you guys are supposed to say i don't need to get poked at all... what the heck

**TheJake** · 08-18-2006, 08:41 PM

i haven't had a shot in ages and I seem to be fine...

But seriously I like the risk of catching something nasty. The stories are always better than the ones where the people didn't end up in a foreign hospital having their arm amputated cause the doctors couldn't understand that your throat hurt....

**tumblezweedz** · 08-18-2006, 11:37 PM

Having visited a few emergency rooms while traveling, I'd highly recommend being up to date on whatever shots are recommended, before you go. I'm not a fan of shots, but I'd rather have a few minutes of discomfort than have to cut my trip short because I'm sick and have to go home, or being sick and miserable staying in an uncomfortable bed. And rusty nails and animal bites are just as common in Europe as they are anywhere else, so the risks are about the same - not great, but still possible.

Facing your fears: what travel's all about.

**bluepea** · 08-19-2006, 03:23 PM

I'm all for tetanus shots. One barefoot drunken walk through woods getting your foot tangled in very old rusty barbed wire fence will do that to you. After my foot swelled up, I kept thinking my jaw was locking... I wasted no time getting a needle stuck in me. Then again, I've never really minded needles.

**IDDQD** · 08-19-2006, 04:57 PM

Yeah i'd get all the essential injections.
Yesterday i got shots for the flu, hep A, hep B, typhoid, and a TB test. My arm is pretty sore today, but its worth it. Expensive though, almost $300 for those.

The doc also gave me an option for an injection to rpevent against some Japanese disease,very rare to get it but if you do theres 70% chance of death and the remaining 30% get brain damage....$400 for that one alone. Debating weather i should go for that or not. You're only at risk if youre in villages and I'll be in Kaohsiung so its not very likely...but damn 100% of bein screwed if you get it.

**lauren313** · 08-20-2006, 12:07 PM

I was totally expecting to have to pay for the shots I got recently, but I was pleasantly surprised when it turned out they were free. That was nice!

Anyway, I would get the shot. If anything happens to you, you'll be glad you got it done before you left.

**omisan** · 08-21-2006, 12:04 AM

I don't care much about the typical disease shots out there (hep, flu, etc.) unless they seem absolutely necessary, but I think tetanus shots are good no matter where you are in the world. Rust is everywhere