PDA

View Full Version : Papua New Guinea



andrew
01-27-2010, 11:29 PM
Later this year I'm going to need to travel for a week or more at a time to Papua New Guinea for my business (Papua New Guinea - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papua_New_Guinea)).

It's a beautiful country if you can stay out of the trouble spots and heed the travel warnings :)

They have interesting dieases there like Typhoid and Malaria. What's the lowdown on vaccinations? I'm assuming that a vaccination which I believe is live virii would play havoc with my "immune" system (note the " "). Am I kidding myself in wanting to go there? I'll be in Port Moresby some of the time but will probably be in other regions as well, essentially all over the place.

Would I be safer surfing a lava flow or taking my own blood tests with used needles? Obviously I'd rather not catch anything but it'd be good if I can get there.

elephant
01-27-2010, 11:44 PM
Andrew, I have a sister who travels all over, I would see your primary physician for antibiotics to bring with you, I am assuming the water and food are not safe. If your still on immunosuprresant drugs it is not recommended that we take a live vaccine. I think the Thypoid vaccine you swallow ( four doses) you take it the week before you leave. Ask your Rheumy what would be best for you. Good luck. Take some pictures.
I'm sure Sangye can help you on this too and others...

andrew
01-28-2010, 12:09 AM
Thanks elephant. Yep, still on immune suppressant drugs. Will be seeing my PCP in a coule of months (still well before I go) and yes, will take a heap of pictures!

Sangye
01-28-2010, 03:09 AM
Hey Andrew,
I'm glad to hear you're gonna get to travel a bit. But... PNG? I have to say the idea makes me shudder. I was in the Peace Corps in Africa. We were all strong and healthy when we arrived, but were sick all the time with staph infections, giardia, amoebic dysentery, malaria, etc...

I researched PNG's malaria situation--similar to Ghana's. The antimalarial drugs are very hard on the liver. They also use doxycycline but it causes sun-sensitivity, rendering it fairly useless in PNG. They have chloroquine-resistant malaria.

On one hand, the fact that you're going there for a very short time is a plus-- less exposure, less time on anti-malarial drugs. On the other hand, you have to put your body through a lot--before, during and after-- just for a short visit. I don't know if it's worth it.

I'm glad to see they "only" recommend a few vaccines for PNG. We had to have every vaccine available. I actually have extra pages stapled into my WHO vaccination booklet from childhood. I had a "typical" reaction to the typhoid vaccine-- severe upper back/neck pain and muscle contraction, headache, etc.... Personally I believe the vaccines were a huge contributor to my developing Wegs. My immune system was still very good after Africa, but never as robust as before.

We all had frequent staph infections. We'd go to bed with a tiny paper cut and wake up to a deep, boring hole in the skin. I still have scars. I can't imagine how you'd do with an already-compromised immune system. I also had to take harsh drugs like Flagyl for extended periods of time due to giardia. I can't imagine adding those drugs to the Wegs drugs. I was the first PCV in Ghana to get CR malaria (ever a trend-setter) and enjoyed almost dying from it 3 times. It's quite nasty.

Once home, it took me a year to get my GI system normal again and many years to clear all the malaria out of my liver. While I was in Ghana, a PCV's brother came to visit. He had been there less than 2 weeks when he had to be airlifted to Germany with encephalitis and malaria, and of course several intestinal parasites.

I'm sorry to be such a party-pooper. I just want to keep you alive and well.

Kimbangu
01-28-2010, 05:38 AM
Anti - malarials? -.if they offer you Lariam, I suggest do some research on its side effects before agreeing to take it. Personally I used Doxycycline while in Africa, the best one is suppose to be Malarone but I could never persuade my company doctor to prescribe it.

You also need to be aware that Wegener's will give a false positive to certain Malaria lab tests, leading them to treat you erroneously for malaria... but that's another story....

andrew
01-28-2010, 06:36 AM
Egad!! Sangye, you are a party pooper but I don't mind getting my party pooped if it comes in the form of good advice.....pooped....did I say that right? :) Certainly a lot to be cautious of. I'll give it some more thought. I might go to Germany instead ;)

Kimbangu, thanks for the tip re: the lab tests. Between the both of you I'll sound really smart when I go see my PCP! :)

Jack
01-28-2010, 07:16 AM
I might go to Germany instead ;)
Sounds like a much better idea. I worked there for a short time (in remission from Wegener's) and really enjoyed it.

Sangye
01-28-2010, 07:57 AM
Germany--- a MUCH better idea! I would not poop on such a party. :D

elephant
01-28-2010, 08:45 AM
Andrew, go to Germany. My husband went there and loved it, it was for work. That way Sangye and the rest of us don't poop and makes messes...

Jack
01-28-2010, 09:08 AM
Getting the picture Andrew?
PNG is just too scary for someone with Wegener's.

pberggren1
01-28-2010, 11:47 AM
Germany is an awesome idea Andrew. I just love that country - so much history and beautiful landscape and architecture.

andrew
01-29-2010, 10:53 PM
Soooo....are you saying Germany?

Sangye
01-30-2010, 01:29 AM
LOL-- All in favor of Germany? Unanimous. Germany it is, then. :D

pberggren1
01-31-2010, 07:29 AM
King Ludwig, Porsches.......come on Andrew, it's a no brainer.

Doug
01-31-2010, 07:49 AM
Germany - so clean you could vomit! Elderly ladies sweep and wash the streets in front of their houses in villages along secondary roads, where the road is right up against the homes, perhaps a narrow sidewalok next to the homes.

I was stationed there for 2-1/2 years as a US Army motion picture photographer, travelled all over the place, never had more than a common cold.

The trip to Papua New Guinea might be great for robust, heathly young specimens like Ollie and that other guy on Travel Channel, but "pooper" brings up the dreaded diarrhea as well from a variety of sources.

Germany is wonderful. "We ain't nasty no more"- that's my travel poster headline for them. The people are open, friendly, like beer (hey! hey! hey!) for breakfast in Bavaria (hey! hey! HEY! HEY!), to which I was treated, mit schenkenbrot und kasebrot, for a yummy continental breakfast, at the factory where Arriflex motion picture cameras are made. Also, it is the land of Dr. Wegener, and home to several WG specialists were you to have issues while abroad.

You do not need the business in Papua New Guinea. Let Ollie have this account or territory. Aim for Europe or Japan, perhaps Korea. Others may have thoughts on that, but we all agree we don't want you messed up, Andrew!

Lightwarrior
02-03-2010, 03:40 AM
I don't want to be a parade pooper and I have no experience with this country but yesterday CNN reported a 6.5 earthquake off of its coast. Here is a link to a Sydney newspaper.

Strong quake off Papua New Guinea (http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-world/strong-quake-off-papua-new-guinea-20100202-n9pd.html)

katwoman
02-03-2010, 08:41 AM
Lightwarrier, unfortunately for PNG they are on a fault line and so earthquakes are common, thankfully this one was off the coast and didn't affect PNG.

Hey Andrew, my boss just got back from PNG last night, he has been going over there pretty much once a month since middle of last year as we are an advertising agency and have been doing work on don't drink and drive (apparently a very common problem in PNG) we have got some footy players involved so you might see buses with our advertising on them, the bus fitters went all over PNG (poor guys working sheds fitting buses and it was like 50+ degrees in the sheds).

Apparently a very interesting place, look forward to hearing your comments on it!

jola57
02-07-2010, 05:33 PM
Andrew, the masses have spoken. for the good of this forum you are hereby banned from PNG. Just think beer, oktoberfest, bratwurst, oh and you can swing to Paris for a day.

pberggren1
02-07-2010, 08:11 PM
Be sure to visit Cologne, Andrew.