Your reservations are made, flight is booked and your itinerary is exciting and full of exhilarating experiences. However, before you go, get protection from illness. Travel vaccinations are an essential part of holiday and travel planning.
What are vaccines?
Travel vaccines are injections people get before visiting certain countries to help protect them from contracting serious illnesses. Vaccinations expose the body to germs of a disease and the body responds to the vaccination by making antibodies that will protect you if you are exposed to the disease in the future. You can’t get the disease from the vaccine because the viruses or bacteria are dead or severely weakened.
How to know if you need a vaccination
Recommended vaccines can protect you in areas where there is an intermediate or high risk for contracting certain illnesses. They also help prevent the spread of diseases from one country to another.
You should let your doctor know that you’ll be traveling, especially if you have a chronic health condition. If you are taking medications for a condition like diabetes, there may be certain drug interactions you need to be aware of. For example, some drugs may reduce the effectiveness of travel vaccinations.
When should you get your shots?
Don’t wait until the last minute because vaccines take time to work and some need to be given over a period of days or weeks. Travel health experts recommend giving yourself 4 to 6 weeks to meet with a travel health provider about how to plan for your travel and to get any needed travel vaccinations.
What are common travel vaccines?
Below is a list of vaccine-preventable travel-related diseases that are not covered by routine adult vaccinations:
Hepatitis A
Hepatitis B
Typhoid and paratyphoid fever
Meningococcal disease
Yellow Fever
Rabies
Japanese Encephalitis
Make getting vaccinated part of your plans, and not just an afterthought.
You know that it’s important to keep your family’s travel vaccination records up to date, but never get round to doing it. That’s why the CenHealth Vaccine Tracker is the perfect tool. This easy-to-use tool will help you record and manage vaccinations anytime, anywhere. Start now
