By Tisha Dotson
Travelling is an exciting time for anyone, particularly if you are travelling overseas. But whether you are going to a place you have been previously or to a new destination, or whether you are travelling for business or pleasure, it is important that you get all of your necessary and recommended vaccinations before getting your passport stamped and hopping on the airplane.
Different countries tend to have different health climates. This means that though the residents of a nation may be accustomed to their own land, atmosphere, and yes, even germs, your body may not. This is especially true if you are travelling to a place that is decidedly underdeveloped and without a strong health care system and lacking in medical technology. Luckily, you can prevent yourself from catching an illness abroad by getting vaccinated before travelling. This way, your time will not be marred by poor health. About four to six weeks before your trip, stop by your physician’s office. Tell your doctor about your intended destinations and he or she should be able to tell you which vaccinations you should already have, which ones you need to get, and which ones you should get. Doctors obtain this information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and you can view the list of required and recommended vaccinations for yourself on this webpage.
As of today, the only vaccinations that are actually required are the yellow fever vaccinations for those who are travelling to sub-Saharan Africa and tropical South America and the meningococcal vaccination for those travelling to Hajj. All other vaccinations are only recommended, meaning that travelers do not actually have to get them. However, those vaccinations are recommended for a reason. For example, people travelling to Hong Kong are recommended to get the vaccines for hepatitus A, hepatitus B, typhoid fever, and Japanese encephalitis because it is highly possible to contract such diseases and illnesses through the country’s food and water supplies. The same is true for other countries with a list of recommended vaccinations.
Vaccinations should be administered during your doctor’s visit several weeks before you travel. This is because vaccinations typically take that long to become fully effective. The last thing you want is to get a vaccination but still catch an illness anyway because you did not give the vaccination an adequate amount of time to work before travelling. However, if you are pressed for time or find yourself booking a last-minute ticket to a faraway country, get vaccinated anyway despite not being able to wait for it to take full effect. Any amount of protection is better than no protection at all.