Puerto Vallarta Forum (PV Bulletin Board)

Do you really need a Hep A shot when you travel to Mexico? I will be staying inside a resort. If I do venture out it won't for long or far. Thank you for any help you can give.

wish i had one
forty years ago
just before our marriage
had the bout of hepititas and typhoid
tough bout
still lovin vallarta
chico

Forty years ago though things in Mexico might have been different. I think. I'm trying to convince myself I will make with out this shot. I'm going April 11th and I waited to long to get this shot. Now I just can't get an appt. Thank you for your help

Bobby002 wrote:Do you really need a Hep A shot when you travel to Mexico? I will be staying inside a resort. If I do venture out it won't for long or far. Thank you for any help you can give.

I don't think you need a hep a shot. I have been going to Vallarta since 1985 and haven't had anything more serious than a bout of Moctezuma's Revenge. It's very disturbing, however, to hear that you may not even venture off your resort. What a waste! Vallarta has so much more to offer than resort living. Please reconsider. It is a very safe and lovely town and you will be missing some great insights and experiences if you don't go out.

I hope you will give me some advice on what to do outside the resort. This is my first time and like anyone I am scepticle of leaving the resort. I will be at the mayan Palace between 4/11 and 4/18.

Thank you

It would probably be easier to put your mind at ease if you told us "why you are skeptical of leaving your resort"

robberies, burglaries, kidnappings and I've never been to Mexico before.

Bobby002 wrote:robberies, burglaries, kidnappings and I've never been to Mexico before.

I understand to a point where you're coming from. It seems at times like the news is full of stories like this. However, if you stop and think about it you can probably only come up with 3 incidents in the last couple of years. Millions and millions of Americans and Canadians travel to Mexico every year and return home safely. The crime rates in many parts of Mexico are lower than they are in other parts of North America and that includes robberies, burglaries and kidnappings. Fear of the unknown can be paralyzing at times and if you were going to Jamaica or the Dominican Republic perhaps I would agree with you. It is always prudent to be careful wherever you are but please let us put your mind at ease about the Vallarta area. I just returned after 3 months. Last year I was there for 5 months. I walked by myself many, many times, often at night and occasionally from some fairly remote areas off the beaten track. I'm not saying that I was always smart in doing so but I always felt safe and I have never, ever had anything even mildly uncomfortable or threatening occur. Petty crime off all sorts does exist and Mexicans are no different than their Canadian or American counterparts but I would hazard a guess that you are more likely to be mugged or have your purse snatched in the area where you live now than you are in Vallarta. I don't mean to belittle your fears - I had them once, too. But now I have 3 years of living in and countless trips to Mexico under my belt so I hope that you can take what I say in the spirit in which I mean it. Be cautious and aware but don't let it stop you from seeing a beautiful place and experiencing a phenomenol culture - and try not to be one of the "white-knuckle" tourists.

24 years of going to PV and never was mugged, robbed, kidnapped. I have had, maybe a couple of times, mild touristas (more then likely brought on by too much good food) I have had my share of hangovers.

Read some of the reports of the people on this board. 99 44/100% love the place.

Do not waste the oportunity to get out and see this wonderful, friendly area. One of the best things there are the people that live there. Be an enjoying guest in a fine, fine Country, not a skeptic.

spend all your time not sleeping or swimming in the pool in town away from your resort. meet and talk to the locals, soak up the mexican culture, eat at as many excellent restaurants as possible and have the best vacation ever.

Just remember-- Puerto Vallarta is not a border town. The majority of news you hear about robberies, muggings, killings, etc. happen in the border towns.

Yes, please try to remember that news media NOTB (north of the border) have a tendency to "dramatize" the relatively few incidents per year that happen to tourists in Mexico, and most of them rarely if ever mention that the bulk of the issues occur in border towns or places where drug cartels have essentially "taken over" - neither of which applies to Vallarta.

I have been traveling to PV for 10 years, just finished planning trip #16. I am a single female solo traveler...let's put it this way, if I thought in any way Vallarta was unsafe for tourists I wouldn't continue to go back. I have also not gotten Hep shots, nor required them. Frankly you're just as much at risk of getting Hepatitis at home as you are on vacation...something those sensationalized commercials for TwinRx never care to mention of course.

Does it mean I'll never get Hep shots? No, I will someday, it's just a matter of finding the time and then finding the way to make my benefits plan pay for it. LOL

Regarding the water, etc. - best to avoid the plethora of myths and old wive's tales people tell (most of whom have never set foot in Mexico), and hit up those who know the truth for the real deal. Puerto Vallarta has an award winning water purification plant, and all major resorts generally have their own in-house water purification systems as well. IMHO, you are in more danger of catching a food-borne illness from your resort buffets than you are from getting sick off resort grounds.

Use common sense when vacationing - don't carry tons of cash, don't wear flashy jewelry, don't get so drunk you don't have the capability to return to your resort unaided, stay away from dark streets. All of this applies to where you live as much as it applies to vacationing.

Just pack your common sense, and when you arrive don't forget to UNpack it.

Mogens

For yhose of you who have Kaiser-Permanente health coverage, if you contact Kaiser's International Travel Clinic, you will be able to get all shots that are recommended, including HepA, polio, tetnus, free of charge. Chuck...

This ad for twinrix (hep A+ B) freaks a lot of Canadians out . Even a tropical drink is suspect for disease ! Bobby002 there are tourist cops and city cops everywhere in PV - cabs galore - be smart and you will have the time of your life off the resort.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cS7G_oBHm4

The risks of getting Hep A or B are real small, but not zero, in PV and elsewhere - US, Canada, France, wherever. In the past, hep A protection was painful (LARGE gamma gobulin shot in your butt every 5-6 months - I had that twice when living in Bangladesh), now 3 relatively painless boosters will give you permanent protection against these real nasty diseases. For us, it is worth playing it safe.

And idem regarding what the others said - go out and enjoy the town -- it is worth it. Your chances of getting mugged are less in PV than in LA, NYC or probably even Ann Arbor Michigan! Just don't be stupid - wandering alone around blind drunk at 3AM is a recipe for trouble everywhere...

I thank everyone for all there input. I agree the unknown is always the most fearfull. IThis will be my first time to PV. I will get out now and enjoy PV with all the advice I have gotten here. Hopefully I will run into someone who is familiar with the area.

Thanx to everyone,

might consider a maleria shot if traveling to playa del carmen !!

Here is a site that has very good Health Information for Travelers to Mexico...
-http://wwwn.cdc.gov/travel/destinationMexico.aspx
I have no concerns of contracting Malaria in Playa del Carmen or any other populated tourist areas in Mexico..


Malaria risk area in Mexico: Risk is limited to areas infrequently visited by travelers including small foci along the Guatemala and Belize borders in the states of Chiapas, Quintana Roo, and Tabasco; rural areas in the states of Nayarit, Oaxaca, Sinaloa; and in an area between 24°N and 28°N latitude, and 106°W and 110°W longitude, which lies in parts of Sonora, Chihuahua, and Durango. No malaria risk exists along the United States-Mexico border. No malaria risk exists in the major resorts along the Pacific and Gulf coasts.

Risk is very limited; therefore, prophylaxis is not recommended for most travelers to Mexico. Travelers should use personal protection measures such as insect repellents for malaria prevention. Chemoprophylaxis is recommended for the rare traveler going to the risk areas.

i hear ya. a friend was told by the blood bank that she can not give blood for a year, because of traveling to playa. we were there the month of february 2007. the mosquitos were out of control at night at the resort we stayed at. cant say ill be going there again. not living in vallarta myself, whats it like in the summer months with los sancudos?