Who should get seasonal Influenza Vaccine?
all of its attendant complications and thus reduces risks.
Generally, public health authorities in European countries or the USA recommend the influenza vaccine only for risk groups, such as patients older than 65 or patients with severe chronic diseases. Considering our location and remoteness from European and American medical facilities, these recommendations need to be widened for long-term residents in Central Asia.
It is our opinion that a general influenza vaccination recommendation could be appropriate in Uzbekistan. At least people who regularly travel overnight outside Tashkent should have this vaccine and people working in offices with a high number of contacts. Also we believe that the age threshold of 65 is too high in such an environment and we strongly recommend the vaccine to anyone 50 years or older.
Influenza and the common cold are very different diseases, although they have a similar clinical picture. Severe complications are much more likely with influenza and, for this reason, influenza can be dangerous.
The influenza vaccine does not protect against the common cold and therefore will not reduce the frequency of runny noses. However, it protects effectively against the seasonal influenza with all
Vaccine - recommended or required?
For those of you who are heading for tropical vacations this year we would like to provide some information on travel vaccinations. Many look for information through the internet, but we found that there is a very common misconception about the labeling of travel vaccines as "required" or "recommended."
Many people appear to believe that "required" means more important than "recommended" and this is false! In fact the contrary is true. Governments don't provide list of the "required" vaccines with tourist in mind. They usually "require" a vaccine if their own population is healthy and they want to protect their own population from a disease that the tourist could import. Governments or tropical medicine specialists "recommend" vaccinations when tourists need protection from a disease that exists in the country. So, if you read that a vaccine is "recommended," it is inadvisable to travel to the country in question without this vaccine.
It appears that most of the confusion arises over the yellow fever vaccination. Yellow fever is a very grave viral disease. No specific treatment exists, so it is essential to be vaccinated when traveling to an area where there is a risk of infection, where the vaccine is "recommended." Yellow fever vaccination is restricted all over the world and our clinic can not offer this vaccination.
We recommend that you take this vaccine at your home country at least 10 days prior to traveling to any region where yellow fever could be a problem. Mainly these are Sub-Saharan African countries and many South and Central American countries. For this reason, please plan any trip to Africa or South America well in advance.
At this point we would like to return to "required" yellow fever vaccines. A high number of countries around the world "require" yellow fever vaccines if you should have been in an epidemic country (Africa, South America) in the last 6-12 months before arrival. Lack of compliance with this requirement may result in travel restrictions to those countries.
For many countries this is a serious requirement and they see violation of public health regulations by foreigners as serious offenses and even punishable within their law.
Cancer of the cervix of the uterus is very common world wide. While the causes of this cancer are truly multifactorial and not entirely understood, it is well known that a key step in development of this cancer is infection with the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV). In women who never had contact with this virus cervical cancer is extremely rare. On the other hand, an overwhelming majority of sexually active females is contaminated with this virus.
If these facts are considered, the development of an effective HPV vaccine was a major break through in medicine and it could eliminate cervical cancer within one generation if all young girls got this vaccine. Unfortunately, the vaccine cannot cure preexisting chronic infections. Therefore, it is imperative that it is given before any contact with the virus. This means it must be given before girls become sexually active or at least early when sexual activity is still limited.
If it is also considered that this vaccine is very safe it is unfortunate that so many young girls still are unvaccinated.
This vaccine is generally recommended for all females aged 11 to 26 as early as possible. For older females it might be beneficial if their sexual activity so far was very limited to one or two partners and if previous Pap smears showed no abnormalities.
The only contraindication against HPV vaccine is known Allergy against yeast.
At TIC we offer you the quadrivalent HPV vaccine Gardasil. It is given as 3 intramuscular injections in months 0,2 and 6.
We cannot stockpile this vaccine, but if you wish to get it for you or your daughters, we are happy to order it for. Usually it arrives within a few weeks.
Preventing Cervical Cancer
Street Address: 38, Sarikul street, Tashkent, 100105, Uzbekistan
Tel.: +(998-71) 291 0142, 291 0726, 120 1120, 120 1144
Fax:+(998-71) 291 2246