When you travel to San Blas you’re entering Panamanian grounds. So we will provide a general recommendation for which vaccines you should have in Panama before entering the San Blas. This is a summary of medicines and vaccines you probably need in the San Blas Area.
The following vaccinations are recommended for San Blas
Hepatitis A, Typhoid, Yellow Fever and Hepatitis B are our recommendations for good solid base for safe travels without illness in every country. You should not spare money on vaccines because it concerns your own health and these diseases are not your average flues. And if you catch a disease like Yellow Fever or Typhoid you will have to spend way more money on healthcare especially when you end up in a hospital, which mostly happens with these diseases.
Malaria in San Blas
If you are planning to visit the Darien Gap near the border with Colombia it is absolutely necessary for you to take anti-malaria medication. Common anti-malaria medicine are Lariam, Malarone, Doxycyline or Primaquine. We suggest you consult your personal physician or health clinic for the best recommendation. Since San Blas is bordering the Darian Gap some cases of malaria are known to have originated in San Blas, it is therefore not totally unwise to take anti malaria medicine when crossing through.
Special vaccinations
Next to the recommended vaccinations we suggest some vaccinations like Rabies for people that work a lot with animals in Panama. Such as Measles, mups, rubella (MMR) for people born after 1956 if this vaccination is not yet previously been given to you.
General vaccinations
Tetanus-diphtheria is one of the vaccinations we recommend in taking every 10 years. The length of immunity of this vaccine is still in debate as some state you only have to take the vaccine every 15 years. But lesson one; better be safe then end up in the hospital.