TB jab for singapore

[Clueless2727]

Been looking at Singapore and there is a higher incident of tb there than here. Spoke to dr and they said it isn't one of recommended jabs. I had it as a teenager, but kids haven't.
Do you think they should have it, or am i just being a bit over cautious.
They said dengue fever is the worst thing there, which i know you can't have immunisation against. Do you put insect repellant on every day to protect yourselves?

[Clueless2727]

Was about to post saying had a look and didn't think it was necessary, but then found this article which seems to say bcg is recommended for expats (article is 3 yrs old though) www.chi-health.com.sg/media/BCG-Vaccinaition-ANZA-August2009.pdf

[Saltedcaramellavacake]

TB is prevalent in SG and it is one of the vaccinations a baby born here will get (expat or not). The BCG is less effective protection in older kids - how old are yours? Have a look at www.singhealth.com.sg/PatientCare/ConditionsAndTreatments/Pages/Tuberculosis(child).aspx
(This is from government agency).
All my kids have had the BCG but the older two had it as babies in Lindon because we lived in an area with a lot of TB. The baby had it because he was born in SG.

[Saltedcaramellavacake]

Oops - In London, obviously.
Re that article - it talks about the BCG protecting "in infancy" and not necessarily protecting against TB "later in life" (so doesn't specifically say BCG isn't useful in older kids.
Don't forget that you'll be travelling to areas with even higher incidence of TB than SG if you plan to travel while here (Vietnam, Indonesia, Cambodia etc).
As for dengue, you need to make sure you don't have pools of stagnant water around your house/condo patio (kids' open water tables, empty pots, puddles that don't drain away etc). All condos and houses are sprayed with nasty chemicals every month or more to kill mosquitos that may contain dengue. We do use insect repellant, though. You can buy small patches to put on the kids' clothing and they are quite effective to keep mosquitos away.

[MasterOfTheYoniverse]

Second what Salted said. (I drool everytime I see your name )
DS also had as a baby in London because we lived in Westminster. And DD in Singapore, highly recommended for the reasons stated. Lots of immigrants + mainland visitors in Singapore too.

As for dengue, yes, you will quickly learn to avoid ban stagnant water, spray and patch continuously etc?.
tbh, skin infections from scratched mosquito bites are more likely than dengue as kids are always in a pool...
Get yourself a tub of australian paw paw ointments when you get to Singapore. Its a miracle skin saver for all sorts of ailments.

Have you thought of the Hep A? quite necessary if you convert to street food as you will surely do!
In Singapore its still super safe to eat out but maybe less so when you travel in the region and stray from your resort.

[RichManPoorManBeggarmanThief]

I would probably get them vaccinated because although the vaccine isn't as effective as you get older its still better than nothing. if possible get it on the buttocks as the arm scars and they're more likely to want to bare their arms regularly than their arse ( or at least you'd hope so)

[picklesrule]

My Ds was born here and had the jab at birth DD had it when we got here. There is quite a high incidence of TB considering the size of the population, because there are a lot of transient workers. Our docs advised that it would be sensible to have it and most people I know have had their kids immunised if they hadn't already been..

[Clueless2727]

Thanks, will look into it.

[RichManPoorManBeggarmanThief]

As with many things, it might actually be easier to get it done on arrival in Singapore. More expensive possibly, but you're less likely to encounter 'computer says no' moments.

[MasterOfTheYoniverse]

richman
that is until you realise ALL singaporeans are programmed on the default "computer says no" mode......which translates into "can", "can not" or possibly the very non-commital "maybe should be can lah!"......when they have a sense of humor!

[Singherewecome]

We are moving to sing at the end of June with our 3 girls (7,5 and 9 weeks!) and we are arranging for them to have the bcg. Our doctors couldn't do it and so we are having it done privately. The advice we received is that we should have it done as children born in sing have it done at birth as there is a high incidence of tb amongst the local population. Our girls are also having hep a and b jabs.

[Clueless2727]

Singherewecome that's interesting, think will definitely give them the bcg and hadn't thought about hep a until this post. Will you manage to give them both doses of hep a before you go or will you wait for the 2nd dose once you are there. How are your children coping with move, my dd is also 7 and very excited. What school are they going to? Dd is enrolled at stamford american school, got another year before ds starts. We're moving 2 july.

[Singherewecome]

hi clueless2727. we move on 29th June so only just before you. the girls have had one dose of hepatitis a and will have the second one out there. bcg is at the end of the month, after second hepatitis b jab! I think we are all excited and nervous at the same time. there certainly seems to be a lot to do before we go.

[MrsTerryPratchett]

I've had dengue. That was FUN. I was told, not sure how true it is, that the dengue mozzies are daytime ones and the malaria ones are evening ones. I was merrily applying DEET to ward off malaria and got dengue because I wasn't wearing repellent in the day.

[Clueless2727]

Poor you, i've heard it's horrid. Going to buy some insect repellant bands for the kids to wear

[MrsTerryPratchett]

It is horrid. I felt rotten for a month. I couldn't even pack my rucksack for about two weeks, I was so weak.

I had the BCG later in life because I work with homeless people and they are a high risk group. I missed it on the UK because I was living abroad as a child. I probably would get them the jabs just to be on the safe side.