I haven’t thought about vaccines in a long time. I think the last time I did it was in Sweden. We lived in a place of forest and tall grass. One day, when reading the newspaper, I saw an advertisement about the Lyme disease vaccine, which is transmitted by a tick that usually lives in areas of tall, but humid, pastures. I thought about it for a moment, I knew that I was not vaccinated for this disease, but to tell you the truth, I didn't want to go voluntarily to get stung (besides, in the Swedish system, getting an appointment for anything medical related is a bureaucratic marathon). As with other things, I preferred to postpone it.
So what happened was that they asked me, as part of the migration process, a medical examination. I would like that if you, my friendly reader, have to go through the same process,to be warned. Or, at least, that you get to know the minutiae of the procedure to obtain a permit.
Firstly, I get to know about this after paying a medical insurance that, of course, doesn’t cover the cost of such exam. Well, what a coincidence!
Note: apparently you can make such visit AFTER the residence is approved, in the letter that you receive as response indicates that such study should be done to get the residence card. I don't know if, by this point, the state covers it or not ... but, we continue.
Secondly, the price is something to keep in mind. Coming from the Mexican public sector, where even in private laboratory clinics they have “the promotion of the day”, and after going through the Swedish system, where I was fully covered and the consultation price was quite reasonable, the Icelandic one is quite an expense in comparison.
I foolishly didn’t investigate what I needed for this exam, or at least what it was. However, the clinic itself didn’t tell me anything in particular, just to bring my passport. I thought it would be a questionnaire of my medical history, something basic, or an elementary physical check-up (like checking the pressure or my weight) and that’s it. Things that is better that they know if they had to provide me medical assistance in the future. But no. Basically they want to know if you have any sexually transmitted disease, hepatitis, tuberculosis or salmonella.
It is very important to note that you should know all the vaccines that you’ve been given throughout your entire life. Take it from me, when in the middle of the waiting room I was googling the Mexican vaccination scheme of the nineties, to know, more or less, if I was missing something. I knew I didn't have my vaccination card at hand, in Mexico it was still night and my parents couldn’t help me. I was almost certain that at some point, in my adolescence, I was vaccinated at my high school and that they did it again when I went to University. I knew 100% that it was from tetanus but I remembered that there was something more.
I thought it would be a questionnaire of my medical history, something basic, or an elementary physical check-up (like checking the pressure or my weight) and that’s it. Things that is better that they know if they had to provide me medical assistance in the future. But no. Basically they want to know if you have any sexually transmitted disease, hepatitis, tuberculosis or salmonella.
I was sent into a room where they took a blood sample. And then, when it seemed all over, they called me again. The nurse explained me the procedure, which I was not even aware of. "We are going to test you for tuberculosis." Hi, I'm the 1800s, let’s have a coffee. I don't know about you, but stretching my arm for a tuberculosis test made me realize that the world has really not advanced at all. In my head I was laughing, because I didn't give credit to what was happening. What came to my mind was the movie of Moulin Rouge and Nicole Kidman, coughing blood. The nurse injected jenesaisquoi in my arm while she said “and well, if you have tuberculosis, then you will get a huge ball and your skin will turn red. But whatever, I already did it, the good thing is that we can give you treatment for it” THANK YOU… next time, it would be nice that you let me know before paying, or at least, let’s do have a coffee, don’t be like that !
At this point, like the obsessive I am, I was wondering what was the thing she injected me. It's called Mantoux Test, in case you wanted to know. If you read on Wikipedia, you can find the information that I got. The test can give false negatives, in particular when you have a vaccine called BCG. This vaccine is against TUBERCULOSIS and is the one administered in Mexico, which is the cause of the beautiful and strange latino american mark on the arm. And I say latino, because it turns out that in Europe it really is not administered in the same way (I think in the US and other countries as well). So ... the lady could’ve check a little higher on my arm, where I have the proof that I DO HAVE THE TUBERCULOSIS VACCINE SINCE BIRTH. I imagined seeing my arm with a red spot or a massive ball due to a false negative ...
About the history of this disease, which in the world is the most prevalent infectious disease, has marked a dark moment in Iceland, since the disease registered 150 to 200 deaths between 1912 and 1920. Approximately in 1950, the registered cases decreased, thanks to the research for the medicine that could cure it. But around the 1980s, the number of cases increased again, it’s thought to be related to the spread of HIV. According to government statistics, 3 people have died from tuberculosis between 2013 and 2017. And it is understandable that in such a small country, precautionary measures have to be taken with such an infectious disease. The photo I accompany this text is from Vífilsstaðaspítali, a building that was built in 1910 for patients with tuberculosis. Today it’s a house for elderly people. There is even a museum in the north of the country, dedicated to a hospital where the disease was treated, where it is said that the treatment consisted of taking fresh air, maintaining a healthy diet and resting.
When I went back home, my mother answered me. "You have all the vaccines, except for meningitis because it was not administered to children at that time" OOPS. Looking for more information, I knew that I did not have hepatitis A because it is not mandatory in Mexico since it is an endemic disease, that is, most people suffer from it asymptomatically and that gives us some sort of protection. Ah! I also learned that my teachers in elementary school lost my vaccination card ...