The pain of prevention

"Have you guys started thinking about vaccinations yet?!" Jenn asked.

I have to confess, it hadn't even occurred to me. Having grown up in India, I somehow go through life on the naiive assumption that my body already naturally contains the entire gamut of immunities needed to safeguard itself against all potential world-known infections. So while our planned trip to Ecuador conjured up all sorts of romanticised images of the Galapagos, I had, in typical Ficali fashion, forgotten to take into account the practicalities of health concerns.

So I responded with an embarrassed, "Eeps. Which ones do I need to worry about?"

"Well, there's Yellow Fever."
"And there's Hep A," Doug added.
"And you should probably think about tetanus and malaria."
"And don't forget your insurance won't cover any of this." They smirked. I narrowed my eyes.
"And there's one of them you need to get about six months in advance, so you should probably go to your doctor right about now."

Crikey.

So I quickly hopped online, nifty googler that I am, to check from a source of authority what I really needed to take. And I found, to my disappointment, that Jenn and Doug were right. As usual. On all counts.

Looks like I'll be calling ye' ol' doc for Yellow Fever-and-HepA-and-tetanus-and-malaria. At the very least.

Now I'm just hoping that none of them are administered on the buttocks.