If you’re going to Mexico, the CDC wants a word with you. You need vaccinations. You need prescriptions. Sunblock, bed nets, iodine tablets, anti-diarrheal medication and laxatives are all recommended. Sufficiently terrified, I went to Baltimore this weekend to see my doctor and get everything I would need not to die.
The CDC suggests the following vaccines, in addition to anti-malarial drugs and prescription antibiotics:
-Hepatitis A
-Hepatitis B
-Rabies
-Typhoid
-Yellow fever
As I read the list to my doctor, he started taking notes, then he started laughing.
“You know, plenty of people go to Mexico without doing any of this,” he told me, “and they’re fine.”
“Yes, I know,” I said, “but the CDC…”
In the end, I walked out with only a prescription for Cipro, and not the anti-malarial pills you’re supposed to start taking one week before you leave. “If you get malaria,” the doctor said, “we’ll deal with it when you get back.”
I tried to explain my high susceptibility to illness, how I can catch a cold from an oscillating fan. He wasn’t buying. But, when I get to those fantastic pharmacies south of the border, you can bet I will be.
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