It is with great pleasure that I announce we have reached the end of our pre-trip human pincushion experiment.  For the last six months, Brian and I have periodically visited our local travel medicine clinic for a variety of punctures, as the lovely doctors and nurses there call them.  Today I received the final three of 14 punctures until August, when I am scheduled to have one more Hepatitis B shot.  Our personal vaccination lists vary somewhat, but I’ve posted mine below with an explanation of the reasons for the vaccine and the number of shots, i.e., x1, x2:

• Measles/Mumps/Rubella – adult booster to provide lifetime immunity; recommended for everyone (x1)
• Polio – adult booster to provide lifetime immunity; recommended for everyone (x1)
• Tetanus/Diptheria/Pertussis – precaution because I couldn’t remember the date of my last tetanus shot, and recommended for all adults now because it includes inoculation against pertussis, aka whooping cough (x1)
• Hepatitis A – recommended for travel in any country with suboptimal sanitation (x2)
• Hepatitis B – recommended for areas with high rates of infection, including Africa, SE Asia, Oceania, the Middle East and Central and South America (x3 for accelerated schedule pre-Ghana, plus one more a year following my first shot)
• Typhoid – recommended for travel in any country with suboptimal sanitation (oral)
• Yellow fever – required for admittance to Ghana, West Africa for my trip, October/November 2009 (x1)
• Japanese Encephalitis – recommended for off-the-beaten-path travel in the Far East, SE Asia and India (x2)
• Rabies – recommended for long-term visitors or hikers traveling in remote areas of Africa, Asia/India, and Central/South America (x3).  I didn’t get the rabies vaccine pre-Ghana, but Brian decided that we should have it before heading to rural areas of Asia.  Without the vaccine, you must receive the first dose of treatment within 24 hours of a bite or scratch — difficult to achieve if you’re trekking — and you need immune globulin (a human or equine blood product) injected at the wound site.  With the vaccine, you have more time to receive your first post-exposure dose and you needn’t risk potentially contaminated blood products.

I have to say, I’m very glad to be done with all the shots.  Until this latest round of vaccines, I had been calm and unconcerned by the regular travel-clinic visits.  But now I’m just sick of being shot full of things and the resulting lethargy.  I don’t recall receiving vaccinations during my childhood but I can definitely commiserate with all the toddlers out there now.  And we didn’t even get a lolly!