Dan's Adventure

On Wednesday I went to the travel clinic at Monklands Hospital to see about vaccinations. I already knew which ones I would need and after searching for prices online I was relieved to find that it would be quite a bit cheaper at Monklands than other travel clinics. Unfortunately my local medical practice’s travel clinic have a policy of only giving Hepatitis A, Typhoid, Diptheria, Tetanus and Polio at their travel clinic, they do that for £25. Everything else requires a private prescription (£10 a shot) and then the cost of the prescription from a pharmacy. At Monklands all you pay is the cost price of the vaccinations which unsurprisingly is cheaper than buying from the pharmacy. In total, the vaccinations are going to cost me £335, a saving of almost £200 when compared to other travel clinics. Thats for the previously mentioned vaccinations which I will get at Strathaven Travel Clinic as well as Meningitis ACWY, Hepatitis B, Cholera, Yellow Fever and Japanese B Encephalitis which I will get at Monklands. I got the Yellow Fever and the first of the Japanese B Encephalitis jabs on Wednesday and will be getting the rest over the next few months. I am going to be a human pin cushion.

In addition to vaccinations, I also need some protection against Malaria. During my trip there is only one 4 week period where I will not need to be taking Malaria tablets, thats when I’m in Australia. The rest of the time there isn’t enough of a gap between Malarial zones to finish the course of tablets. Due to this long term usage, Doxycycline has been recommended. Its a daily capsule, a 48 week supply of which costs a further £48. Staying healthy certainly doesn’t come cheaply!