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Hi all.
3 of us are doing the trek in July 09 and we were wondering whether or not we should be innoculated against Japanese Encephalitis and Cholera.
I'd be grateful for your veiws.g'day
japanese encephalitis is a viral disease spread by infected mosquito . It is not transmitted person to person. It is the leading cause of viral encephalitis in Asia mostly in China Korea SE Asia and Indian sub continent There have been a few cases in the Torres Strait Islands and Cape yorke peninsula. PNG is not a high risk area but prevention in the first place is better than the cure. Use repellant(Bushmans or tropical strength Rid),wear sensible clothing and use a net at night if necessary but highly unlikely . The above will also help to prevent against malaria and dengue fever if it is around. Talk to your GP but he will probably say immunization against JE is not necessary. On the other hand anti malarials are essential eg doxycycline. See GP.
Cholera is an acute bacterial enteric disease transmitted through the ingestion of food/water contaminated with human excreta. It is endemic in Asia, Sth America, Central Europe, Africa and sporadically in Nth America and the Pacific. Again chat with your GP but unlikely to immunize.Treat your water with tablets or Steri pen always. Clean hands before eating and after toileting with either alcohol based wipes or liquid anti Bacterial hand cleaner.
Again personal choice re immunization but PNG not high risk for either. Be guided by your GP and warm up your arm for the three JE injections if you decide to go ahead.
Safe travellin' enjoy it all.
PeteThanks Pete.
We had a lot of advice both fore and against innoculations for these 2.
We will take your advice.After consultation with my Doctor ( The Royal Flying Doctor Service), one of whom had trekked Kokoda last year, I was inncoulated for Thyphoid and Hep A and B. I've got cholera mixture to take in two doses a couple of weeks before I leave. I also had a tetanus booster and a flu shot while I was at it. And I've been prescribed anti malaria medication of course. It was a bit of a deal as I live so far from a Dr and some injections couldn't be given with others, but in the end it meant just two trips to town. I've purchased enough water purification tablets for 100 litres but as i'll be on the track for 9 1/2 days I'm wondering if this is enough?? Cheers
thats 10 litres a day, that should be ample.If not you can always boil some at night for the next days use.
Hi Lorna
Looks like you have been a real pin cushion with all those needles and with the tablets I wonder if you would rattle when shaken, to be honest on my GP's advice I had much the same as you.
On average I drank 5 litres of water a day 100 purification tablets will be ample and no matter what anyone may tell you use them all the time we had no stomach problems on our trek as everyone was so careful with water, utensil and hand washing etc.
Whilst I eat plenty of cooked vegetables when available and eat fruit also it was only fruit that I had to open or peel etc to do so.
More for personal interest than anything else I took note what the boys were doing and am pleased to say that the boys on our trek and particularly the guide Wallace Lemeki took particular care in their own cleanliness even more so when actually handling our food.
Have a great trek I envy you can not wait to get back
BrianBrian, going off on a tangent here…. We have a farmstay here on our Darling River property and last week I had a tour group from Brisbane. We'd gotten onto the subject of Kokoda (my lack of hills and struggle to fit in the amount of training I'd like to do with the myriad of other daily chores on the station). Anyway – one of the ladies in the group began telling me about a guest speaker they'd had, recently back from Kokoda. How inspirational he was, his challenges getting fit to trek etc etc. To cut a long story short – it turns out she was referring to you Brian!!! Well done, you've added successful public/motivational speaker to your list of achievements.
Wow! that is nice Lorna did not realise I was that good although I do try to encourage others particularly more mature people like myself even if not trekking Kokoda that life does not end when you retire.
I have spoken to young school children through to senior groups but my next one will be a real challenge as I have been invited to talk at a RSL meeting where there will be up to forty old diggers there.
Thanks for your comments your farm though seems very inviting.
Enjoy your trek and I am sure that those new boots you have will serve you well.
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