Travel vaccination
If you’re planning to travel outside the country, you may need to get some preventive travel vaccination against severe diseases in other parts of the world.
Vaccines Recommended
Before traveling, kindly ensure you are up-to-date on all regular phase vaccines. Vaccines help you against certain hazardous diseases.
Some of these vaccines include:
- Flu (influenza)
- COVID-19
- Chickenpox (Varicella)
- Measles-Mumps-Rubella (MMR)
- Diphtheria-Tetanus-Pertussis
- Shingles
- Polio
Vaccinations are also available to protect you against infections such as;
- Yellow fever
- Typhoid
- Hepatitis A and Hepatitis B
- Cholera
- Japanese Encephalitis
- Measles
- Rabies
When to have travel vaccines
See a doctor or a private travel clinic at least eight weeks before traveling.
Certain vaccines need to be injected well in advance to grant your body the necessary time to nurture immunity. Some vaccines involve having them in a periodic number of doses for several weeks or months.
You can be prone to more risk of some diseases if you’re:
- Backpacking and trekking
- Traveling in rural areas
- Staying in hostels or vacation camping
- On a long solo trip rather than a package holiday
Always remember that if you have a pre-existing health problem, this might make you nearer to getting risks of infection or complications from a travel-related illness.
Other things to consider
There are other things to consider when scheduling your travel vaccinations, including:
- Working in a medical environment – a doctor, nurse, or other healthcare workers may need additional vaccinations
- Your age and health – you can be more vulnerable to infection than others; some vaccines are not for people with certain medical conditions
- Contact with animals – you may be at risk of getting diseases spread by animals, like rabies
Reviewed by – Dr. Priyanka, MBBS MD Microbiology
Page last reviewed: 04 October 2022