For your international travel vaccinations, go to your doctor and discuss your travel plans well before you have to leave.
Try to do this at least 2-3 months before you leave. Depending on where you are going, you may need some immunizations or medications.
Some travel vaccinations take a few months to take effect or require a few visits back to the doctor’s office.
Some doctors will advise you to get vaccinated against absolutely everything, others will be more sympathetic to your budget and destinations.
Common vaccinations include:
- Hepatitis A
- Hepatitis B
- Meningitis
- Yellow Fever
- Tetanus
- Typhoid/Diphtheria
- MMR booster (measles, mumps and rubella)
- Polio and Cholera
- Japanese encephalitis
To read a great article on abroad travel vaccinations Click Here.
For protection against Malaria, when we visited Africa we used Doxycycline. There are other options, but once again please consult your doctor. If going to infected areas, such as Africa, it’s a good idea to carry a mosquito net.
These are cheap, take up no space in your backpack, and are very light to carry. You can hang them over your bed. Also, wear long sleeve clothes when necessary and use repellent.
For detailed facts on Malaria click here.
Helpful Hints:
- Keep a record of your vaccinations. It’s hard to remember what you have had and when you need your boosters etc…
- For Credible Health Information online, check out the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website, the Adventure Doc’s Vaccination page and the World Health Organization vaccinations country specific details.
The problem with doxycycline is that it can make you more sensitive to sunlight and you can sunburn much easier. So caucasians should probably avoid using it — use Malorone instead. This is the kind of thing that happens when you just go to your regular doctor for this stuff. Most haven’t taken the time to learn enough to correctly advise you on this. See someone who really does travel vaccinations/pre-travel health consultations. One hint to finding someone–they can provide yellow fever vaccinations (you need a special license for this).
Great tips. We did burn a lot easier with the doxycycline. I was glad to have it when I got tick bite fever though as it was the only thing that helped me kick it.