Pegleg Starfish

My bf, T, is possibly going to Nigeria soon.  Not for a fun African Safari vaca, but for work.  Today he came home toting a bag full of drugs, and band-aids all over his arms from the vaccinations.  Since I’m not a world traveler, I really had no idea about what goes into prepping for a trip to the jungle.  I thought you might be interested to know what you have to have done, take with you, etc. before you go somewhere like Nigeria. 

Here’s Nigeria in case you don’t know:

Nigeria is bolded in Green.  It’s approximately 6,600 miles away from Houston, Texas.  There are about 125 Million people in the country of Nigeria.  And I’m pretty sure that there are like 80 cazillion mosquitoes in Nigeria. 

T came home today with the following vaccinations, some of which are necessary for traveling to Nigeria and some are just vaccinations that he needed to get just because he had never gotten them.

• Hepatitis A
• Hepatitis B
• Influenza
• Menactra (Meningitis)
• Polio
• Typhim Vi (Typhoid)
• PPD (TB Test)
• MMR (Mumps, Measels, Rubella)

Ouch, Ouch, Ouch.  He even had to have shots in the backs of his arms.  Youch!!!!  He will need to get more in 28 days.  Poor baby.

T’s company paid over $1,000 to get him equipped with all the shots and stuff.  He will be carrying this lovely travel pack with him.  It’s full of medicinal goodies.

Contents of lovely travel pack:

• Digital Thermometer (so he can confirm that his yellow fever is at a dangerous level)
• Hydrocortisone Cream  (so the giant mosquitoes bites won’t itch too badly)
• Malarone pills  (he has to take a Malaria pill every single day while he’s there!)
• A bottle of pain medicine 
• Temazepam  (sleeping pills so he can sleep when the rebels are being too noisy at night)
• Meclizine  (for nausea and vomiting related to travel, T will use this whole bottle. I’m sure)
• Ciprofloxin  (a diarrhea prevention and treatment)
• Ibuprofen 
• Generic Pain Reliever
• Roll of Tums
• Carmex (for his chapped lips)
• Antihistamine (allergy medicine)
• Anti-Diarrhea tablets  (don’t drink the water!)
• Pseudoephedrine (cold medicine)
• Laxative  Tablets
• Ear Plugs
• Eye Drops
• Roll of Halls
• Bottle of 20% Deet Insect Repellent (lotion)
• Oral Re-hydration Salts (to rehydrate after a nasty bout of diarrhea)
• Alcohol Swabs
• Band-Aids and Antibiotic Ointment
• Spray on Insect Repellent for clothing  (it lasts through 6 washings!)

Holy cow!  I guess that makes me feel a little better about him going….or maybe not.  At least he’s vaccinated against everything.  I’ve been looking over the folder of information that he got from the doctor about Nigeria and I found a little map of diseases and where they can be found in the world.  Nigeria happens to be home to every single horrible disease except Japanese Encephalitis; which I thought was pretty funny.  I like to refer to these diseases as “Oregon Trail” diseases.  Cholera, Diarrhea, Cholera….  Let’s just hope these shots protect him. 

There is a nice packet that includes General Travel Considerations.  It has a section titled Intimate Contact Situations.  “If there is any chance that you may find yourself in intimate contact with someone of an uncertain background, IMC (International Medicine Center) recommends that you protect yourself by carrying, and using, quality latex condoms.  There is no guaranteed protection or barrier against sexually transmitted diseases other than complete abstinence.”  I think that this tip is for everyone, not just those who are traveling. 

A packet that is Nigeria specific has some more intersting travel tips:

Crime:

“When traveling to Nigeria, inform your relatives that scams in which fraudulent calls are made to relatives from alleged hospitals/doctors in Nigeria are frequently committed.  Typically, relatives are advised that their traveling relative is in a hospital in Nigeria and that money is required for medical treatment.”  

I won’t go into details about robberies, heavily-armed extortionists, gangs, etc. 

Travel: 

“Across Nigeria, roads are generally in poor condition and lack adequate lighting.  Lagos, a city of 10 million people, has only a few operating traffic lights.  Motorists seldom yield the right-of-way and give little consideration to pedestrians and cyclists.  Bandits and roadblocks are more numerous at night.” AKA, get the hell out of the way.  They will run you over!

It also states, in the same paragraph, that the rainy season may wash out roads and homosexuality is illegal. 

So………..

I think this will be a little more nerve wracking than when he traveled to Germany. 

They didn’t hate gays and you didn’t have to get vaccinated for every Oregon Trail disease ever known to man.