Travel Vaccines You Might Need

Travel Vaccines You Might Need

Today we’re going to talk about Travel Health which as a nurse is one of my favorite topics to discuss because we all want to stay healthy while we travel now specifically I’m going to talk about travel vaccines and which ones you might want to consider as you start planning

Your adventures around the world now back when I started traveling in the mid90s I had all of these questions myself it was like there’s all these vaccines available do I really need to go get all of them before I start traveling So today we’re going to try and answer some of those questions

Questions which diseases are out there that we have vaccines for what do those diseases look like and how are they transmitted and then if you do decide to get any particular vaccine what that schedule might actually look like so I’m sure you will not be surprised to hear

Me say that I am issuing a disclaimer that this video is not intended to give you personalized medical advice we are here to answer some basic questions but you’re going to need to see your own healthc care provider to make any final determination on whether you get a

Vaccine or not and there are some very good reasons for that which we’re going to go through here because there are some things you need to know that are going to be very specific to you to help you make these decisions for example one of the first things you’re going to get

Asked is which countries are you going to some countries have certain endemic diseases that do not exist in other countries so the vaccines you’re going to consider are going to depend on your itinerary even within those countries there may be regions within the countries where the disease is and

Regions where the disease is not and you won’t have to worry about it so it’s going to depend another thing you’re going to want to consider is the time of year some diseases flourish in the hot season or the rainy season and might be

More of an issue than if you go in the middle of winter so the time of year you are traveling will make a difference another question to answer is how long are you going to stay in that particular country if you’re someone like me and you’re staying for 2 months that’s going

To be very different for someone who might just be coming through through on a layover in an airport and then heading out to somewhere else the longer you stay in an area the higher your Risk the next thing you’re going to want to talk about with your medical provider is you because it’s going to make a difference depending on your age your health conditions your pre-existing medical history that will all play a factor into which vaccines are going to be appropriate for you another important

Thing to note is that countries might have access to different brands of vaccines which means the vaccine that you get in the United States might not be exactly the same as the vaccine you get in Thailand or in Australia or Peru so you have to do some research to see

Because these different brands could potentially have different side effects they’re very likely to have different cost sometimes it can be a lot more affordable to get vaccines outside of the United States but also one thing you’re going to want to pay attention to is especially if you are getting a

Series of vaccines that you know you takes three doses over several months and if you’re planning on mixing and matching those different brands you just want to make sure that you’re going to get the benefit that you’re hoping For so our first category just real briefly I wanted to mention is the routine vaccinations that you probably started getting when you were a kid for the most part those aren’t going to be hugely impactful while you travel but a couple you might get asked about polio particularly I think it’s still endemic

And Afghanistan and Pakistan which might not be the most common tourist destinations but I know this audience goes to some fun places and hey K2 is in Pakistan so you might want to go there another one to consider is tetanus tetus is definitely one you want to keep up

With you need a booster every 10 years so just pay attention to when you had that the last time and finally here I just throw in your you know annual flu and Co shots just to keep up with those as you normally would let’s look at hepatitis now hepatitis is an

Inflammation of the liver that can be caused from a variety of different viruses but today we’re going to look at specifically Hepatitis A and hepatitis B hepatitis A is usually result of poor hygiene and can be contracted from eating contaminated food or water where Hepatitis B is a bloodborne pathogen

Which means that you can get it from sexual activity sharing needles or razors or getting tattoos to get vaccinated for hepatitis if you choose only to get vaccinated for Hepatitis A that can usually be done in two doses Hepatitis B takes three doses usually over 6 months so sometimes that can be

Longer but these vaccines do come combined into one which is nice and you can get all three done in three shots over about six months [Applause] now the good thing about hepatitis that is unless you fall into one of several high-risk categories once you complete this regimen you’re probably never going to need a Booster next we’re going to look at typhoid now similar to hepatitis A typhoid fever is spread through a lack of Sanitation and so is usually contracted by ingesting contaminated food or contaminated water it is actually related to Salmon illa poisoning food poisoning that you hear

About um it is a cousin to that but it can be potentially deadly and in a lot of people it can take weeks to months to fully recover from an infection now this vaccine actually comes in two different ways at least in the United States you

Can get an injection or you can take a pill the injection you just need once and it’s done and then you need to get a booster every 2 years with the pill form it is a series of four pills that you take every other day over a week and

Then if you can get that version that is good for five years so you only need to get the booster every five years for me I prefer the oral medication just because it lasts longer but note that the manufacturers have been having some trouble and So lately in the United

States that can be a little bit harder to find the next one we’re going to talk about is Japanese intis now this is transmitted to humans through the bite of an infe mosquito now interestingly enough the mosquito can’t actually catch this from biting humans it only gets

Infected when it bites the infected pigs or water foul so this isn’t usually something that you’re going to see in bigger cities if you’re just going to Bangkok then it might not get recommended that you get a vaccine for Japanese in sephtis but if you are going

Out to any more rural areas rural the Ral rural but if you are going out to any more rural areas it’s in 24 different countries in southeast Asia and the Western Pacific then this might be one to consider it’s also much more likely to get um infected during the hot

And rainy Seasons now the vaccine is a simple schedule it is given in two doses one month apart so next up we’re going to talk about malaria now malaria is found in tropical countries all around the world it is spread through the bite of an infected mosquito it gets into

Your liver it gets into your red blood cells and if left untreated it can be fatal now for most of us we’re not going to be looking at a vaccine but we’re going to look for prophylactic medication this is medication that you’re going to take before you get to

The country while you’re there and then probably for a week or two after you get home this medication is very specific to where you’re going there are multiple kinds there’s eight or nine different kinds of medication that will work but they’re very specific to the region of

The world that you’re going there are areas that have become resistant to some of these medications so you want to make sure you’re taking the right thing and you’ve got to talk to your doctor to figure that out there are some medications that you take once a week

There are some medications that you have to take every day there’s going to be a difference in cost in the different medications there’s going to be a difference in side effects you know some people have very minimal side effects some people have some significant side effects with certain medications so

You’re going to want to talk to your doctor and figure out where you’re going and which medication is going to work best for you let’s talk about rabies so rabies is a viral disease that affects the central nervous system it is spread through saliva so usually a bite or a

Scratch that comes from an infected animal it usually is going to be a domestic dog but it can come from any mammals so it could be a fox raccoon or a bat so it is very important with rabies is that if you are exposed you need to get treatment right away once

Clinical symptoms start to develop rabies is fatal Almost 100% of the time so that rapid treatment becomes very important you can can get treated after the fact but some people will opt to get the ravies vaccine ahead of time just so they have some protection in their

Symptoms so this is going to be one of those things you’re going to want to talk with your provider depending on where you’re going to see if this is something that’s going to be important for [Applause] You so one that many Travelers are going to have to consider is yellow fever yellow fever again spread through the bite of an infected mosquito as of 2023 it is present in 34 different countries in Africa and 13 countries in South America now what makes yellow fever

Vaccination unique is that it’s not the countries that have yellow fever that are going to require you to get vaccinated before you come it’s every other country that’s going to require you to have it after having been to a country that has yellow fever so if you’re planning on going anywhere in

Africa or South America Amica you might really want to consider getting that vaccination so for example when we flew to Egypt a few years ago they saw we had been to South Africa and even though we were not in an area in South Africa where they have yellow fever the guy at

The gate still required that we show him proof that we had been vaccinated which we had and it wasn’t a big deal but that’s not what the specific rules are that we had looked up before we flew there so you just have to know there are

The the specific rules of you need to have but then at the end of the day it’s the guy at the gate who’s going to make the determination so if you’re going anywhere in those areas I would consider getting yellow fever fortunately the good news is that

It’s just one shot this has changed recently where it used to be you needed to get a booster every 10 years now they have decided that one vaccine will cover you for life unless you’re spending a lot a lot of time in one of those infected areas so as long as you have

One you’re probably good to go so another one I thought worth mentioning was chalera now chalera is not something most Travelers are probably going to have to be worried about but because there is a vaccine available I thought I would mention it it is spread through contaminated food and water most people

Who contract cha have mild to no symptoms they just need some oral rehydration but in the serious forms of the disease it can lead to acute watery diarrhea that can kill a person in a matter of hours so there is a vaccine that is available if you are going to be

Traveling somewhere that is having acute chalora outbreaks but probably the only reason I mention this because I know there are Travelers who are out there volunteering their time and going to places that need help and that might be a place where you want to consider getting a vaccine for chaler but most

Travelers probably aren’t going to have to worry about It vaccines might be a great way for you to help keep yourself healthy and safe while you are traveling the world however there are a few other things that you might want to consider and I wanted to give you just a few quick tips to help you protect yourself when you’re

Considering food boor illnesses here are just a couple of tips eat food that has been properly cooked now one great way to do this is look for restaurants that are crowded so if you’re not sure where to eat if you see a restaurant that has a long line and lots of locals eating

There that’s probably going to be a place you want to go because not only does it have the seal of approval of all the locals they’re not going to go eat there if they know people get sick there but also because they’re crowded that food is turning over it’s not you know

Getting cooked and sitting out all day always look for crowded places the next thing to consider is that if you do not have access to clean water you’re going to want to boil it for one full minute before you use it I mean roiling boil at for a full minute now the interesting

Thing here is that if you are at altitude anything over 2,000 ft altitude changes the boiling temperature of the water and so you’re going to want to boil it longer for at least 3 minutes if you are over 2,000 ft the next thing to consider is be cautious with ice now in

Many places around the world if you’re in a tourist place they know you can’t drink the ice they probably aren’t drinking the ice either so it’s probably fine but if you get into a place that is cutting Corners you just want to make sure that you’re not getting a lot of

Ice that could come from contaminated water next is a very basic thing we used to talk about this in the hospital all the time wash your hands thoroughly and use soap so if you are eating if you are like petting animals like dogs or cats that you think are just so adorable make

Sure you wash your hands with soap afterwards if you go to the bathroom room wash your hands with soap and water is one of the best things you can do to keep yourself safe finally you want to consider when if you are cooking at home

And you are going to eat any fruits and vegetables you want to make sure you wash those well many countries have like different um soaps and things that you can use that are specifically designed to wash fruits and vegetables but another great tip is peeling them is

Better unless you’re going to be cooking them especially if you’re eating them raw peel the fruit and vegetable and that is going to keep it safer for you to eat you also want to make sure you are protecting yourself from mosquito born illnesses and the number one most

Important thing you can do is not get bit by a mosquito I know this sounds silly and it is so important because if you don’t get bit in the first place you don’t have to worry about any of this other stuff happening one thing you want to think about is wearing protective

Clothing like I know it gets hot in these tropical places but wearing long sleeves wearing long pants can really provide a lot of protection often you can get clothes that are impregnated with bug repellent right into the material those can be really great you want to use mosquito Nets so a lot of

Times hotels even hostals I’ve stayed at have mosquito Nets that are available that you can put over the bed to keep you safe at night make sure you tuck those under the mattress you know make there’s not openings around use those mosquitoes Nets they can be very

Effective next if possible you want to use air conditioning now this is such a fascinating one but air conditioning protects you in more ways than you think from the mosquitoes so for one not only does it get you behind usually you’re going to close the door if you have air

Conditioning running and with that door closed you’ve got a barrier and so nothing new is getting in second of all is that mosquitoes track You by following your carbon dioxide that you’re breathing out and if you get in a room with air conditioning it’s moving the the air around and it makes it

Harder for them to track that carbon dioxide back to your body body another thing is they can track is heat and at night just in bed your body temperature tends to be a little bit lower but then you’ve also got that air conditioning on which is making the road colder and it

Can make them again make it harder for them to find you here’s another one is that mosquitoes don’t like the breeze mosquitoes can only fly about 1 to 1 and a half miles per hour so if you have a breeze moving over your body like a fan

Can work for this too that breeze is just going to blow them away and make it so they can’t get to You so Splurge for that air conditioning because it’s going to help keep you protected and lastly make sure you use an effective mosquito repellent many times the recommendation is to get something with DEET in it but there are depending on where you are in the world you might find something else that’s

Going to work for you another tip is that if you’re using using sunscreen and of course as the nurse I always recommend sunscreen put the sunscreen on First and put the mosquito repellent on top of that so that it still works if you are a long-term traveler and are

Looking for more travel tips take a look at these two videos right over here today and the Tomorrow there’s no down Barrow

Do you know which travel vaccines you need for your travels? Preparing for travel abroad can include asking which available vaccines do you need to consider ahead of time. While this video cannot give you personalized medical advice, we will cover the basics on which diseases have vaccines available, how those diseases are transmitted, and what the administration schedule of the vaccine could look like.

For further information on travel vaccines, follow these links:

WHO (World Health Organization): https://www.who.int/travel-advice/vaccines

CDC (US: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention): https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/page/travel-vaccines

NHS (UK: National Health Service): https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/travel-vaccinations/jabs/

CDC info page on pre-exposure vaccination schedule for rabies: https://www.cdc.gov/rabies/prevention/pre-exposure_vaccinations.html

TIMESTAMPS
00:00 – Travel Vaccines
00:43 – Discuss with your provider
03:26 – Routine Vaccinations
04:08 – Hepatitis
05:20 – Typhoid
06:22 – Japanese Encephalitis
07:15 – Malaria
08:25 – Rabies
09:23 – Yellow Fever
11:00 – Cholera
11:50 – Meningitis
12:01 – Food-borne illnesses
14:29 – Mosquito-borne illnesses

Thumbnail Photo:
Title: The American Mosquito
Creator: José Guadalupe Posada
Date Created: ca. 1900–1910

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This channel is for travelers. We are David and Robb, and have been traveling together for 30 years. We’ve been to over 85 countries and territories (so far) on trips that have ranged from a couple of weeks to a couple of years. We are currently taking a four year sabbatical and offer you an unconventional example of what is possible.

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