Swine Flu Jab for Southern Hemisphere Travellers
Earlier this week I had an interesting phone call from the Nurse in charge of the Travel Clinic at my GP's.
I have been travelling to South Africa every few months for the past 6 years. I will be going again in June (if the volcano has stopped spewing by then :shock: ) so have asked for my usual anti-malarials..... The nurse phoned me to 'strongly suggest' that I (and my fellow travellers) have the Swine Flu vaccination as it is 'the flu season in the Southern Hemisphere'. For this privilege those who pay prescription charges would be charged £31. I thanked her for her consideration and told her that I had declined the offer of the Swine flu vac for the flu season here in the UK last year and saw no reason to think any differently now.
It was only after our conversation ended that I realised that in the 6 years I have been going out to SA - and especially in the Southern Hemisphere's flu season ie April to Sept when I often go out twice - not once has the subject of having any kind of flu jab ever arisen. My inner sceptic then escaped it's shackles and let rip! Of course! I remembered that the UK now has a HUGE stockpile of unused Swine Flu vaccine costing £gazillions which the NHS must be desperate to recover. They must have asked themselves 'where's the next flu season coming up - oh yeah Southern Hemisphere, let's target those suckers!'
I do however like to have as much information as possible before making a decision, so I contacted a few medically-inclined friends in SA and asked for their views/advice on the subject. They laughed. Quite frankly, anything other than Aids and Malaria (to name but 2 of the big boys) doesn't get much attention.
So...... does anyone here have any views or advice on the subject?