I started getting vaccinated less than a week before I left Labrador for Tierra del Fuego, the southernmost point of South America.
The first thing I was given at the local clinic was an injection against typhoid, ?? a severe systemic disease caused by the bacterium Salmonella Typhi,? which, according to the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, I could ingest through contaminated food or drink. If I got it, it would give me a 16 per cent chance of dying and, if I survived, I?d have a two to five per cent chance of becoming a chronic carrier, ?? shedding the bacteria in stools for years.?
The second thing I received was the first dose of a chalky anti-cholera drink. While not horrible, it didn?t taste pleasant, but it would help me avoid catching another kind of water and food-borne bacteria that would give me the worst kind of diarrhea and vomiting, possibly leading to severe dehydration and death.
A few days later, I was given an initial shot to combat Hepatitis B
(I had had innoculations for Hep A, tetanus and diphtheria a couple of months earlier).