I’m going to be moving to China in a few months, and I’m considering getting vaccinated for Hepatits, either A or B or both.
The clinic at my university said that for the B vaccine, I’d have to take a follow up shot at one month and six months. Problem is, at six months, I’ll be in China. Are such shots readily available there for foreigners? Reasonably priced? (It’s $40 per shot here in the US, which I consider to be near the upper boundaries of reasonable)
As for the A vaccine, the nurse said it was available only through the health department. Is it worth getting? I’m not sure how likely it is that I’d contract either A or B, but if it’s inexpensive and relatively convenient, it’d probably be worthwhile.
Oh, any other health risks I should be considering? Any advice or insight is appreciated.
http://www.cdc.gov/travel/eastasia.htm
This is an updated list of vaccines that are recommended for travel in China. You can probably get Hep A and B vaccinations in Japan if they aren’t available in China.
An American who is young and has never lived or traveled much in developing countries is probably susceptible to hepatitis A which is a debilitating disease. A person can prevent hepatitis A by being very, very careful about what she eats and drinks in China or she can take the safe and effective hepatitis A vaccine.
For adults, the greatest risk of contracting hepatitis B in China is from exposure to a hepatitis B- positive sex partner or exposure to contaminated medical instruments or products. Although the risk of contracting hepatitis B is, for most people, much lower than the risk of contracting hepatitis A, the fact that hepatitis B infection can be fatal is a good argument for being immunized.
You don’t mention where you will be staying in China but if you are near Hong Kong you can go see Dr. Gloria Kim Pei at the International Travel Medicine Service, Hong Kong Adventist Hospital in Kowloon. The phone is 522-574-6211. All I know about Dr. Pei is that she is a member of the American Committee on Clinical Tropical Medicine and Travelers’ Health (ACCTMTH) of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene and that she is among the Hong Kong doctors recommended on this page of the Austrian Chamber of Commerce web site: http://www.wko.at/aw/publikation/HK/L43a_00.pdf
Although I trust CDC publications more than WHO publications, you might want to consult, in addition to CDC, the WHO which has a travelers health web page: http://www.who.int/ith/
Yeah, correctly pointed out that hep b vector of infection is via blood transfer, much like aids. Hep a is via body waste, where typically a restaurant worker uses the restroom and doesn’t wash their hands afterwards. In other words, Hep A is much easier to contract.
Where will you be in China? all the major cities have expat health centers, where it should be no problem to get the vaccination. I haven’t checked but imagine that the better hospitals in big cities can also provide the vaccine (for a fraction of the price the health centers will charge).
You can try www.thatsshanghai.com and search their listings for medical centers. They have sister publications in HK and Beijing.
Here’s a link to an expat med clinic in Shanghai. Beijing, Guangzhou, Xiamen, Suzhou, Qingdao, etc will all have comperable facilities. Where are you going to be in China? Worldlink