Job Discussion Forums

vabeckele · Joined: 19 Nov 2010 Posts: 439

I just payed 50 euros for my first shot of Hep A&B - three more to go. Does anyone know it its cheaper in Vietnam?

Marmaduke · Joined: 12 Dec 2010 Posts: 7

Can't tell you that, but for comparison I'm paying AUS$65 a hit for TwinRix over here. Would be very interested in completing my course at Viet rates.

vabeckele · Joined: 19 Nov 2010 Posts: 439

Yep. My plan is to take the last two in Vietnam. At least with the first shot I can eat, in theory, all the street food I want.

TeresaLopez · Joined: 18 Apr 2010 Posts: 601 Location: Mexico City

vabeckele · Joined: 19 Nov 2010 Posts: 439

Oh My God · Joined: 31 Jan 2010 Posts: 273

vabeckele · Joined: 19 Nov 2010 Posts: 439

vabeckele · Joined: 19 Nov 2010 Posts: 439

The pedantism of the ESL professional is extraordinary - yes maybe I made a leap, at least in communication, between safe food and hep A.

What I should have written, for the budding young doctors running around this site, is that at least I will not contract hep A from street food and local water sources. Really, I do not have to travel that far to get food poisoning, I could probably find it at my at my place of work here in the E.U.

You all will find good articles on Hep A, B, C and E if you google them.

If I happen to rock 'n' roll, then Hep C is the one I am scared about.

Oh My God · Joined: 31 Jan 2010 Posts: 273

toiyeuthitmeo · Joined: 21 May 2010 Posts: 213

Had a friend contract Hep A whilst in Saigon, although did not start showing real symptoms til her return to Uni. Her physician told her it was probably due to walking down Bui Vien Street in sandals, whilst the flood-water was about knee high. She had a few knicks, scratches, and scrapes on her feet from hiking about, allowing critters to enter the blood. It was no walk in the park. Her Uni's health services had to quarantine her and contact all her flat-mates and others she'd been in close contact with, to test and monitor them. She lost nearly 1 stone in an absurdly fast amount of time (and was already fit prior to this--resulting in emaciation), and was in agony for some time.

Then I know plenty of others who've been here 4-5 years, eat almost exclusively at Viet quans and stalls, fear not fresh produce and ice, brush teeth and cook with municipal water, and travel occasionally to rural areas with nary and inoculation and nary a serious illness apart from the expected infrequent intestinal distress, or at worst, a few isolated incidences of dengue.

Hmmm...what doesn't kill ya makes ya...?

vabeckele · Joined: 19 Nov 2010 Posts: 439

Oh My God · Joined: 31 Jan 2010 Posts: 273

shanewarne · Joined: 21 Feb 2008 Posts: 146

I got dengue from a mosquito bite last year in HCMC. At first I thought I was sick from eating street food as I had diarrhea about two hours later. That night was the worst with a fever that soaked the sheets. I had crashed for twenty hours. I'd started taking cypro. an antibiotic I had with me, as soon as I realized I was running a fever. Took it for a few days and stopped. After two days of being off cypro, I realized I was still exhausted and had a fever of 102.2 and now a full body rash. The rash made the palms of my hands bright red and itchy, felt like they were burning from the inside out. I also saw I was red over the top of my arms and down my legs and feet. This freaked me out so I saw an MD at the hospital. He gave me a different antibiotic, a high dose of something similar to tylenol to help with the strong joint pain and fatigue and a high level probiotic to help counter act the effects from the antibiotic. He said I'd probably feel better in a few days. He was right and by the time and by the following week, was looking a little pasty, but symptoms were clearing.

vabeckele · Joined: 19 Nov 2010 Posts: 439

Getting Ill when abroad is scary.

When I was in China I had to visit both the dentist and the hospital. When I saw the nurse spit into the sink and then use the same needle to treat 4 people, I nearly shat myself. I remember when one doctor, through translation, said that I have a hole in my ear. I replied by stating "of course I have a bloody hole in my ear!".

The dentist didn't know which tooth to treat so he gave me a bag of pills to eat every day, if I remember correctly I had to down 16 pills a day for 10 days. I quit after a couple of days 'cause of the stomach pains I was getting.

Jbhughes · Joined: 01 Jul 2010 Posts: 254

A good friend of mine, a few students and a member of staff at school have had dengue fever. Every time I felt so helpless and sorry for them - it's seriously nasty! Even an Aussie is admitting pain here! Feel for you shanewarne - I wouldn't wish that on anyone.

On the medicine front, I suggest any prescriptions from Vietnamese doctors are checked and if someone goes to a pharmacist for an ailment, you should always make sure you have the names of all the drugs they give you to check on the internet.

I've been given:
-amoxcillin, when I'm allergic to penicillin (I told both the doctor and the pharmacist about my allergy to get a chuckle and plenty of khong saos).
-2 or 3 drugs that have been banned in the US.
-Arthritis medicine for a common cold.
-Antibiotics for a common cold COUNTLESS TIMES. Perhaps 'bị cảm' doesn't mean a cold? Perhaps I've been in a time warp and antibiotics can cure viruses now?

Actually, I got prescribed a combination of pills by a Korean doctor in the Viet Phap hospital that isn't recommended either, so I suppose you can't be too careful anywhere.

I also have a pretty horrid scar on my leg where a Vietnamese doctor butchered some stitches into me (they later got re-done after the wound became infected). I was off work for a few weeks. He charged me about 5 times what a Vietnamese would pay for the privilege!

I'm sure people can report good stories from Vietnamese healthcare as well. I got dealt with really well by Vietnamese doctors in Cambodia for example.