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!

I've been many times and never had any special vaccine. However, I've caught tummy bugs about 50% of the times I've gone. DH has got sick every single time and refuses to go again, so I got with my female mate these days. Imodium doesn't work if you get the shits. You just go to the hotel complex medical centre and they'll give you the right pills to stop it immediately.

Thank you. This is basically my Egypt reassurance thread. 😂🙈😭 Talk about 1st world problems.

My husband is saying that every time I feel nervous I should look at this: 8000 reviews, 6000 say excellent and nearly 2000 say very good. So, logically, the odds are in our favour aren’t they. Surely you wouldnt rate the hotel as excellent if it gave you Typhoid or food poisoning right??

The reviews for the place we went to in Cyprus were nowhere near this positive and we had the best holiday we’ve ever had. So we’re quite easily pleased!

Ask the GP surgery to get in touch if they have any cancelled appointments. Also avoid tap water, food that has been washed in local water, and try and eat fruit and vegetables that can be peeled.
I too have been to Egypt without travel vaccines..... Did you know that travel vaccines are recommended for Turkey? No one realises that either!

Yes we were amazed when we were looking for something to swap this one with. Who knew?! I assumed it was on a par with Cyprus.

Hi, joining this post a little late but planning on traveling to Egypt. Can you please tell us how it went?! Thanks!

Sorry I’ve only just seen this!

Good news, we didn’t catch any tropical diseases!

Im trying to think of something else positive to say….. 😬

We didn’t really go for true Egyptian culture so I appreciate I have no right to complain about any of the following. We went to a TUI family friendly all inclusive hotel. When we were there there was a degree of concern about leaving the hotel. I think they’re always a bit apprehensive anyway (an arm guard takes you across the road if you do leave) but for whatever reason they were particularly concerned in the week we were there. So we didn’t step outside of the hotel and I appreciate this may not the kind of holiday you’d be doing.

I was concerned prior to going about food poisoning and we did indeed all get food poisoning despite being absolutely obsessive about hand washing and sanitiser. I actually nearly shit myself on the plane ride home which presented a level of anxiety I never knew existed. My stomach hasn’t been the same since tbh.

It was unbearably hot. Which is obvious really since we went in August (and yes I do realise how completely naive I sound!) I genuinely have no idea how people live and work in that heat. I was in constant awe of the Egyptians going about their daily business whilst I was dying just trying to hold up my book to read. It was an endurance test from beginning to end. How the actual f* did they build those pyramids? Seriously when you have felt that heat in real life, it gives you a whole new level of respect for the absolute wonder and mystery of those buildings. It didn’t even cool down at night!!

The pools were all warm and felt a bit like a breeding ground for bacteria (potentially where I got my gut rot).

Our hotel was basically the Egyptian equivalent of Butlins, meaning there was permanent noise and “entertainment” for the kids. I’ll leave that to you to decide if that’s a good thing or not.

I was constantly hassled by men, being told I was a ‘beautiful queen’ and remarks about my very pale skin and red hair. The fact is that I am most certainly not a beautiful queen, and in the heat of Egypt I more closely resembled Jabba the Hutt with ginger hair in a messy bun. So I didn’t fall for their charm and refused to buy any of the stuff they were trying to sell me. I was warned that women are hassled a lot, but I wasn’t prepared for it to happen multiple times a day in the hotel itself. I very politely asked them to stop trying to sell me things many times, but they didn’t ever stop.

We had our homebound flight delayed by 24hrs and was put up in a different hotel for that extra night. This was quite possibly the most luxurious hotel I’ve ever been in, the food was incredible, it was so peaceful and no hawkers at all. I have considered going back there but it would need to be in their winter and we’d need to be millionaires.

To be perfectly honest with you, I didn’t really enjoy the holiday and it cost an absolute arm and a leg. The heat just kind of ruined it for me. Hats off to anyone who goes there every summer and good luck if you’ve decided to go for it. Just take some electric fans with a water mister and immodium.

There was a worldwide shortage of typhoid vaccines when I went to Egypt and the Nurse gave me all the info about what to avoid - stagnant water rings a bell.

If you can't get the vaccines, read up on how to protect yourself as much as you can and crack on with your holiday.

Phone your GP and ask someone to check through your record?

Sorry op, I've just seen your update. Sorry you didn't enjoy your holiday.