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TRAVEL HEALTH

Vaccinations against tropical diseases

VACCINATIONS

Ideally, you should make an appointment to discuss vaccinations with your healthcare professional eight weeks before travelling. This is because most vaccines take time to become effective in your body and some vaccinations must be given over a period of days or sometimes weeks. Also many surgeries will not have appointments available at the last minute.

You can ensure you get the best advice by coming to your appointment well-prepared: Tell your healthcare professional exactly where you'll be travelling, including the countries you'll be visiting and ideally the exact regions. Since some health risks vary from location to location, this is an important part of getting the right advice.

If you have less than eight weeks until you leave, you should still see your doctor. You could still benefit from certain vaccinations or medications and will receive advice on how to protect yourself from illness and injury while travelling.

Some vaccinations are available free for travellers on the NHS.

Vaccinations generally fall into three categories: routine, recommended and required.

Routine Vaccinations

If you haven't had your routine vaccinations for tetanus, diphtheria and polio, this is an ideal opportunity to get them. Even if you've had these immunisations before, it might be time for a booster. Speak to your healthcare professional to confirm that your routine vaccinations are up to date. These vaccines are necessary for protection from diseases that are still common in many parts of the world but rarely occur in the United Kingdom. If you aren't sure which vaccinations are routine, visit the NHS Immunisation Information website.

Recommended Vaccinations

There are vaccines available for a number of the most common travel related illnesses such as hepatitis A, typhoid, and hepatitis B. These vaccines are recommended to protect travellers from illnesses present in other parts of the world and to prevent the importation of infectious diseases across international borders. The type of vaccinations you need depends on a number of factors so it is essential that you speak to a qualified travel health professional to get the best information for you.

  • Hepatitis A is a highly infectious virus which attacks your liver and sometimes it can make you jaundiced. Signs of hepatitis A include yellow eye-balls and itchy yellow-tinged skin. It can make you very tired and lethargic, and in some cases it can put you off work for up to six months. Hepatitis A is usually transmitted through the faecal-oral route through person-to-person contact or contaminated food or drink.
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  • Hepatitis B is known as a silent disease because sometimes it doesn't present any symptoms. The virus attacks your liver but you may be completely unaware that you're ill. If you have the infection for longer than six months, you can go on to have a chronic infection, which in some circumstances leads to more serious medical problems like cirrhosis or cancer of the liver. Hepatitis B is contracted through contaminated blood and bodily fluids.
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  • Typhoid is a bacterial infection within your whole body, which can develop and be far more serious than hepatitis A, although it is less common and less infectious. However, if it is left untreated, severe complications could arise leading to bleeding in your intestines and even a perforation in the bowel. This could result in death. Typhoid is primarily transmitted through contaminated food and water.
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  • Other vaccines which may be recommended depending on where you're going and what you are doing there include cholera, rabies, Japanese encephalitis, yellow fever, meningitis and tick borne encephalitis.
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More details can be found on www.fitfortravel.nhs.uk, and www.nathnac.org

Required Vaccinations

The only vaccination that is currently required under the World Health Organization's International Health Regulations is yellow fever for entry into certain countries in sub-Saharan Africa and tropical South America. This vaccine is not just given for disease protection, but to prevent a traveller taking the disease into a susceptible country which is not affected by the disease. Meningococcal vaccination is also required by the government of Saudi Arabia to enable a visa to be issued to attend the Hajj pilgrimage.

It's also important to remember that while there is no vaccine for malaria you need to take precautions each and every time you visit a malarious destination.



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VCG/WEB/08/34723/1 April 2008