Travel Immunisation
Travel immunisations are very important, but often overlooked. We are very fortunate to be living in Australia, where the spread of many infectious diseases has been controlled. Unfortunately this isn’t the case worldwide. When we travel we risk exposure to these diseases as well as diseases that don’t occur in Australia. Even in safe destinations, disease outbreaks do occur.
Additionally, some countries may require you to be vaccinated against particular diseases, and may deny you entry at the border if you haven’t done so.
While everyone should look into vaccination before travelling, particular groups are at higher risk of travel related diseases – such as pregnant women, babies and young children, the elderly and those with a weakened immune system.
Which vaccination will I need?
There isn’t one straight forward answer to this. It depends on your destination, previous vaccinations, the time since your last vaccinations, your age and health.
For travel to areas with high risk of specific infections, immunisation may be required for diseases including:
- Cholera
- Hepatitis A
- Japanese encephalitis
- Meningococcal C
- Rabies
- Tick-borne encephalitis
- Typhoid fever
- Tuberculosis
- Yellow fever
We recommend visiting your doctor 6-8 weeks before departure. This is for two reasons:
- your immune system needs time to respond to a vaccination;
- some vaccines require more than one injection
If you have any further queries or will be travelling soon and haven’t received personal travel health advice, we highly recommend that you book yourself and your family in for a travel consultation. The doctors who consult at HealthMint offer travel immunisation and consultations in a beautiful and relaxing architecturally designed clinic.
P.S. We also highly recommend that you:
- check the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade ‘Smartraveller’ website prior to leaving, for country specific advice regarding safety, security, local laws and health and to register your travel plans in case of emergency;
- have a read of our posts on travelling with children!
