Roatan Trip precautions....

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MN Lakeman

Contributor
Messages
252
Reaction score
40
Location
Minneapolis
# of dives
500 - 999
After reading MANY pages of this great forum on Roatan, I decided to call my health care clinic - specifically the "travel clinic" for a consultation on pre-trip vaccinations. Before even going to my appt., I was pretty sure I wanted the Hepititus A series, & maybe the malaria prevention. After talking to the nurse, she not only wants me do these two protocals, but they also urged me to do typhoid prevention. Any ideas from the Roatan veterans? Also, there are apparently 3 different ways to approach the maleria prevention, and I have read from some previous threads that some make you sicker than the disease itself :11: ! I'm staying at FIBR early Oct. Thanks!
 
I have been to Roatan 14 times and I have never had any health problems. The closest I came was when several of the people on our dive boat got iontestinal difficulties. I have heard numerous stories abot this same type of malady at several resorts which was caused by some bad cheese produced on the island. It has been resolved. I will be going to FIBR on the 18th of Sept for a week and I do not plan to take any extra precautions this time as well. I think that you are much safer on the island than you might be on the mainland. I do advise that you get some DEET in the strongest concentration you can in a non aerosol form. They might confiscate it at the airport security, but usually that is for the return flight. If you would have any additional questions, you can reach me at Aeolus@scubadiving.com. I am sure that you will enjoy your trip.
 
Have been a number of times since 1977. The stongest meds I take is Pepto and Deet well don't actually drink deet but I do spray it on me. :wink: No problems. My husband had a friend that was suppose to go with us in 2003 but they ended up taking something to prevent malaria and had a reaction to the meds and ended up in the hospital and didn't get to go with us. :11: Sorry I don't know what they took. I wouldn't worry about it too much.
 
MN Lakeman:
After reading MANY pages of this great forum on Roatan, I decided to call my health care clinic - specifically the "travel clinic" for a consultation on pre-trip vaccinations. Before even going to my appt., I was pretty sure I wanted the Hepititus A series, & maybe the malaria prevention. After talking to the nurse, she not only wants me do these two protocals, but they also urged me to do typhoid prevention. Any ideas from the Roatan veterans? Also, there are apparently 3 different ways to approach the maleria prevention, and I have read from some previous threads that some make you sicker than the disease itself :11: ! I'm staying at FIBR early Oct. Thanks!

FIBR is blessed by being on the South side, bathed in continous breezes. There is little or no standing water thus little chance of mosquitos. If you leave the resort, all bets are off. Bathe in deet.

Remeber, Roatan is not in the same bucket as mainland Honduras. Protocols are different.
 
I just came back from Roatan a few weeks ago. I did HepA, and chloroquine for malaria preventative. Check the CDC website if you want to inform yourself. Chloroquine has been around for years and has little side effects. Chloroquine is also the preventative that the CDC recommends for Honduras. I did get a few mosquito bites and the security of knowing I've got nothing to worry about for the next several months is comforting. Malaria is MUCH WORSE than any effects from Chloroquine. You've probably heard the media play about Larium (sp?) that is used by the military....which according to the media is linked with all kinds of problems. I've taken chloroquine now for 5 weeks with no side effects....I do take it after a meal as recommended by the label/pharmacist.

I took 30% DEET with me and it worked just fine except when I forget to use it. I also stayed at FIBR. The sand fleas seem to be worse than the mosquitos in my estimation. You'll need the DEET from the knee down at the very least when walking or sitting on the beach during the day. The lunch palapa is indoor/outdoor....if you sit inside you will be fine, if you sit outside on the beach they will nibble on your ankles.

I checked the CDC website and couldn't find anything when I went about typhoid. FIBR provides purified water at meals and in your room. They also use it to wash fruits/veggies and to make ice. If you are too concerned, you can also get bottled water to drink. We saw the water truck arrive every morning with a bazillion blue 5 gallon bottles on the back delivering the days' supply of water.

I went to my regular doctor armed with the CDC recommendations and got my shot and prescription. Saved big bucks over the travel clinic. By going to my regular doc my HMO paid for it all.

I also got tetanus too, but that's just because as divers it's a very good thing to stay current with.
 
Diver Lori:
I just came back from Roatan a few weeks ago. I did HepA, and chloroquine for malaria preventative. Check the CDC website if you want to inform yourself. Chloroquine has been around for years and has little side effects. Chloroquine is also the preventative that the CDC recommends for Honduras. I did get a few mosquito bites and the security of knowing I've got nothing to worry about for the next several months is comforting. Malaria is MUCH WORSE than any effects from Chloroquine. You've probably heard the media play about Larium (sp?) that is used by the military....which according to the media is linked with all kinds of problems. I've taken chloroquine now for 5 weeks with no side effects....I do take it after a meal as recommended by the label/pharmacist.

I took 30% DEET with me and it worked just fine except when I forget to use it. I also stayed at FIBR. The sand fleas seem to be worse than the mosquitos in my estimation. You'll need the DEET from the knee down at the very least when walking or sitting on the beach during the day. The lunch palapa is indoor/outdoor....if you sit inside you will be fine, if you sit outside on the beach they will nibble on your ankles.

I checked the CDC website and couldn't find anything when I went about typhoid. FIBR provides purified water at meals and in your room. They also use it to wash fruits/veggies and to make ice. If you are too concerned, you can also get bottled water to drink. We saw the water truck arrive every morning with a bazillion blue 5 gallon bottles on the back delivering the days' supply of water.

I went to my regular doctor armed with the CDC recommendations and got my shot and prescription. Saved big bucks over the travel clinic. By going to my regular doc my HMO paid for it all.

I also got tetanus too, but that's just because as divers it's a very good thing to stay current with.

Great advice, though I appreciate the other responses as well (good to know med'l problems aren't bad). Since I made the appointment, I'll just keep it & for sure go with the Hep A & Chloroquine. I appreciate knowing more about the Chlor., as I believe it was the other one you mentioned I had read about. My dive buddy wants to be on the safe side too, as you pointed out, if you get a few bites, why worry about it even a little bit (hey we're on vacation!). He was just at the clinic yesterday, & they said they have to prescibe an alternative med., because he just had Lasix eye surgery & for some reason the Chlor. can't be used (?) - hopefully he doesn't have to take the military 'scrip.

Apparently, the rationale behind vaccinating for Typhoid is that the disease is becoming a problem all through mainland central america, but there is also a growing concern as more & more cruise ships are coming into popular island spots & dumping you-know-what over the reefs :11ztongue So I guess as a diver, its something to think about.
 
We lived in Mexico for 6 years and we've been in Roatan since April. In Mexico we had Giardia, Amoebas, Typhoid, Dengue and several unidentified bugs/bacteria that caused dysentery symptoms. Roatan is much, much cleaner. We have been vaccinated for Hep A but not Malaria. We live on the south side of the island near CCV and FIBR and we hardly see any mosquitos over here. We learned in Mexico to stay indoors around sunrise and sunset when the mossies swarm.
 
One note about the sand fleas (no see ums) - although the bites look unsightly, they don't itch and disappear after a few hours. That was a happy revelation for us when we were on Roatan last week!

Although we were pretty good about keeping ourselves coated in DEET, were were not 100% diligent, and all it took was a dash across 10 feet of sand between the road and the dive boat in West End to receive a fair number of bites.

We had Hep A and Typhus shots last summer for a trip to Indonesia, but did not take maleria medication for this trip. Got plenty of mosquito bites, so fingers crossed I guess! (Had no problems in Belize or Costa Rica, so I'm not going to lose sleep over it at this point...).
 
pigletfish, where did you stay? We are going in Oct and staying at CoCoview.
 
Pigletfish....I wish I was as lucky as you! I must have had an allergic reaction of the histamine nature, because mine itched like a sonofagun and welted up for several days.

Sitting at lunch on the beach I could actually feel them nipping at my ankles...little tiny pricky feeling.......ew!
 
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