As anticipated, the latest Covid surge in Nepal is now reaching its peak as hundreds of people are becoming infected each day. The surge is mostly due to the Omicron BA-5 strain. The CDC has Nepal on Warning 3 or “High Risk for Covid” for travelers. This means that anyone visiting Nepal should be fully vaccinated and boosted. The new Omicron-plus vaccine, which also targets the BA-5, is now out and available in the United States. Get it! Keep in mind that unless most everyone in a community is vaccinated (herd immunity), a vaccine does little to protect one from catching the virus….it’s primary purpose is to keep you out of the hospital if you should catch it. Your main source of protection is masking and distancing! So, always mask in public and eat alone!
Adults who were vaccinated for polio as children do not need to be vaccinated UNLESS they are planning to visit places where polio is “common.” Polio was eliminated in Nepal in 2000, and outbreaks have been controlled, as it has been in India. However, Polio is still endemic in Afghanistan and Pakistan….so it’s a matter of how wide a circle of safety you want to draw!
Dengue Fever has also reached epidemic proportions in rural areas of Nepal, but can and may move into urban areas, and it is already come out of the mountains into Kathmandu. Dengue Fever is transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes which can breed in puddles and flower pots, so the only way it can be effectively contained is by spraying for the adult and draining or dumping all sources of stagnant water where they breed and larval forms are found.
There is a vaccine available, recently approved also for children 9-16, but DO NOT GET IT. It is strictly for people who have already had dengue at least once. Dengue is known as “Break Bone Fever,” which, according to my father, who contracted it on Saipan in WWII, accurately describes what it feels like to come down with Dengue Fever.
There are four serotypes of this virus, so if you get bit again and infected by the same serotype, one is protected from previous exposure. BUT, should the virus be of a different serotype, the body (now sensitized) will exhibit an extreme antigen-antibody reaction, much like an allergic reaction which ranges from severe to lethal. This is why one must not get the vaccine if not previously infected: it will sensitize you! The best protection for most travelers will be to cover up with long sleeves, pants, socks, and use DEET (the only proven effective mosquito repellent). This is good advice for malaria and Japanese Encephalitis which are also contractible in Nepal, but no word as to any outbreaks occurring now.
I go into some detail about Dengue as our Country Director (Bal Khatri) set out to visit students in the Eastern part of Nepal, but he, unfortunately, contracted Dengue Fever and returned to Kathmandu. He will have to wait until after the Tihar Holiday (October 22-26) to finish school visits. Although this means more delays, at least by then I will be in Nepal even with the cancellation of the Fall Tour. I should be able to return with student letters written for sponsors by early December. Hopefully, we will be back on schedule with student letters by spring 2023.
Earle Canfield – Founder, Executive Director
