Updating vaccinations for Taiwan
Recently it has been approximately every year, in which I find myself in Taiwan. This year I finally decided that I should do something about ensuring I have all of the appropriate vaccinations. It was only a few decades ago in which Taiwan started taking action to decrease the spread of diseases such as Hepatitis A. Interestingly enough the main action which can be credited to the government of Taiwan to improve the situation was quite simple. The government passed a law that required market places and street stalls to issue disposable chopsticks instead of re-using half washed chopsticks.
I am told that normally a single injection is all that is needed, however due to a world wide shortage of vaccinations, I find myself needing two separate injections at the same time. No big deal I thought. The vaccinations I needed were for Hepatitis A, and for something I had never heard of – Typhoid. As per protocol, after receiving the injections I was instructed to sit in the waiting area to ensure I am not affected by any side effects of the vaccination. I was sitting in the seat outside the nurses station, and approximately one minute later I started to feel quite light headed and ill. Not long after everything started literally fading out to black. The next thing I know I am waking up on the floor, covered in blood with two doctors and a nurse standing over me.
As a result of this I have now had a headache for at least two weeks, I have a huge scar above my nose, which needed 3 stitches to close up, and I still have quite a sore nose. Moral of the story – if after an injection you find something going wrong with your vision, I strongly recommend you go from a standing or sitting position, to sitting on the floor.