Malaria in the Bahamas 2012

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has recently received an official report of a confirmed case of malaria in a U.S. traveler who visited the island of Great Exuma, Bahamas in February and March of this year. The last documented case of malaria there was in 2008.  Malaria control measures and increased surveillance have been started.

If you have traveled to the Bahamas this winter and develop flu like symptoms, especially fever, see your health care provider and tell them you’ve been to a malaria area. You could develop symptoms for up to a year after exposure. Malaria can be detected by a special blood test. Treatment is most effective if started early.  Do not donate blood for a year after possible malaria exposure.

If you are planning on going to the Bahamas, be sure to use insect repellent with 30% DEET, cover up exposure skin and sleep in air conditioned rooms or with screens or be nets. For more info on malaria prevention go to the CDC and www.malariahotspots.co.uk/

I Can't Find My Shot Records

Want to know what vaccines you'll need for your next trip? You will need to know what vaccines you’ve already had first. Don't have a clue what you've had? Here’s some suggestions for trying to find your records.

1. Ask your parent if he/she has any record of your childhood immunizations.

2. Look through any old papers saved from your childhood, such as a baby book.

3. Ask your high school, post-secondary school, college health service, or previous employers (including the military) for dates of any immunizations.

4. Ask all previous health care providers you’ve seen as an adult for a copy of any immunization records they have.

5. If a previous provider is no longer in practice, his or her records may still be accessible. Call the hospital closest to the where the provider was located and ask if they know who has the records and how you might obtain yours.

6. If you’ve been treated in an emergency room for trauma, especially if you had stitches, you may have received a tetanus booster. Write to the hospital’s medical records department and ask for all immunization records.


If you can't document having received a vaccine in the past, you may have to be re-vaccinated. Sometimes blood tests, called titers, can be done to see if you are immune. Receiving extra doses of these vaccines will not harm you but why get extra shots if you don't need them.

Start keeping your own immunization record now. Many health care providers can give you one or you can download an adult immunization record card.
There are even apps for that now, too.

Questions about Vaccines?

Getting shots to protect you from disease when you travel is a big part of a visit to a travel clinic. You may be getting shots for diseases you may have never even heard of before. Your travel health specialist can help you decide which shots make sense for you get based on where you are going, when you are going and what you might be doing while you are there. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) produces handouts called Vaccine Information Statements or VIS’s for every vaccine for kids and adults. These are available in over 35 languages.

VIS explain what the disease is, who should get it, and when it is given. It lists who should not get the vaccine and what the risks and possible reactions might be. This way you can weigh the risks and the benefits and decide how to best protect yourself from vaccine preventative diseases when you travel.