Booked hol to Egypt - panicking as no vaccine! HELP!!!

[Fluffyflipflop]

Apologies not AIBU but worried and need the traffic!

Yesterday, in a flurry of excitement due to a good deal, we booked a holiday to Egypt in 5 weeks time, with Tui. It’s to a 4+ star holiday village, all inclusive, we do not intend on leaving the complex.

Today it dawned on us about vaccines. Our GP practice can’t see us for a few weeks. There is no private vaccine clinic near us (not be within 40miles anyway) and it would cost us £240.

According to gov travel site Typhoid and Hep A are recommended. And 6 weeks in advance.

Now panicking because if we cancel we’ll lose 70% of the cost of the holiday. We can switch to another destination we think, but probably something not as good.

Im Googling like mad. The vaccines are suggested/recommended, not essential to travel.

What on earth do we do??!! We have a 9 year old daughter who has had all her usual childhood vaccines.

Have you been to Egypt? Did you get vaccinated? Am I worrying unduly? Argh!

Been there twice, never had vaccinations, I think very few do. As PP's have suggested no tap water, ice, careful of salads which may be washed in tap water.

We've been to Egypt three times, no vaccinations, ate buffet three times a day, ice in drinks, never got ill. Have a great time and don't worry about it OP x

I didn’t have vaccines but I’d never go again, we all got very sick with D&V, it’s one of the most common places to contract that

This. Dh and I spent 4 days curled in a ball, we were awfully ill. Thankfully we were there for 14 nights but for a standard week long holiday it's pretty much ruined for many.

Everyone I know who's been to Egypt has some story about being ill. And just 'being careful' isn't enough - it only takes one drop of water on a salad, on a glass that hasn't been dried properly, a splash in the shower...

I would never take a child there tbph.

@McSpoot just google on nhs vax — DTP = Diptheria, tetanus and polio. I used to give it when I worked at a vax clinic.

Just book with your gp, may as well get them and stop panicking, calm yourself.

@McSpoot apologies. I’ve just done more research and see what you mean.

But we only gave the triple vaccine in the travel clinic I worked in, never the quad.

Been to Egypt twice, one Nile cruise, one combined Nile cruise and sharm week. Never had any particular vaccinations and was fine, although I did get diarrhoea at one point. I mainly ate the salads and everyone else in the party ( who were all fine) stuck to the hot foods so I don’t know if that might have been why……amazing country, I’ll definitely go again one day.

All good. I did Google in case the NHS had different naming conventions than the rest of the world (which, is possible) and think I found what you found. I mainly work on looking at infant immunization (i.e. percentage of one-year-olds that got all three of their doses) and mainly don't focus on UK, so wasn't sure if this was something I just hadn't heard about.

Either way, probably beyond the point of this thread (but good for people to know what the options are). Also, highlights how confusing and varied these things are!

i came back from Egypt on Monday, and no vaccines were required. You're good to go, no need to panic x

Been there loads and none of us had any vaccines.

You'll need to pack Imodium though if using a buffet a lot.

Wouldn’t even occur to me to get vaccines to go to an all-inclusive in Egypt.

I don’t know why people in general wouldn’t get vaccinated - it’s free and they protect you.

I met someone in Indonesia that contacted typhoid and she was really really ill and had to be taken by boat from our island to he mainland for treatment in a hospital I wouldn’t have wanted my dog treated in. She freely said none of her travel party had had any vaccinations.

Superdrugs website suggests you can have both hep an and typhoid around 2 weeks before - although you’ll likely have to pay if you can’t get in at your GPs at short notice.

My daughter will be drenched in chlorine 98% of the time, will that help?

This really made me laugh 😅

I’ve been to Egypt twice. Never had these vaccines.
we stayed in 5* resorts each time and each time we got sick though. :(

if this happens I strongly recommend getting tablets from a local chemist as they seem to work better for their local bacteria, than the European drug with the same active ingredient, strangely.

Agree re stomach upsets, have been to Egypt several times and got the runs every time even though I normally have a cast iron stomach. Plenty of Imodium and as everyone says dodge the salads and ice!

I’ve had these vaccines by a practice nurse at my gps before travelling for work. I asked to be charged for them as I wanted to expense them…felt much the same as you that this shouldn’t be sudsidised and should be a cost to my employer of doing business. It wasn’t possible to charge me and the practice nurses attitude was it was a huge saving to NHS compared to treating people who contracted the diseases.

Been to Egypt, Turkey and most of North Africa many times over the years. Never even occurred to me to get vax. Eaten from street vendors and dubious looking cafes. Still alive. I don't drink anything that's not out of a can or bottle on the plane, their water tanks are filthy. Pick cafes and restaurants that are busy and full of locals, and never ever eat the rice.

I strongly recommend getting tablets from a local chemist as they seem to work better for their local bacteria, than the European drug with the same active ingredient, strangely

Yes, agree with this. Dh and I did this and were ill for 4 days. We were part of a large group, most of whom also got sick - but quite a few others didn't like the idea of taking 'foreign medicine' so just used immodium and the like from home but they were ill for several days longer.

Usarly go to Egypt 2 x year, never get vacs.
Any upset tummy etc the local pharmacy's are great.

Honestly, with all these reports of the heat and food poisoning I’m feeling we’ve made a huge mistake and I’m now dreading the holiday. £3k wasted. My husband has tried to switch to another destination but it’s going to cost so much we just need to go with the flow and make the best of a bad situation.

Thanks everyone for the reassurance about the vaccines but now very worried for completely different reasons.

I keep telling myself, it’s just a week. We’ll get through it. Might lose some weight at least!

🙈

I’ve been plenty of times and I did once get ill, but that was definitely sunstroke too much beer and too much sun! 😎 You’ll be fine particularly as you plan to stay in the resort

Honestly we went to Egypt in a party of 30 family and friends i was the only one vaccinated (been somewhere high risk) and I was the only one who got sick although that was montezumas revenge

If you do get a tummy bug go to the pharmacy and get the yellow stuff is horrible but works

You aren’t backpacking around, you are staying in a resort. Relax! 😌

j think those vaccines are recommended for many countries.
I’ve been to Egypt and knows lots who’ve been- none of whom got extra vaccines