Immunization Guidelines for Travelers
by Jennifer Jordan
When traveling for business, you may be more worried about your immunity against a failed merger than you are a disease: getting all your last minute preparations set, shots may fall by the wayside, replaced by the desire to get a shot at landing a big client. However, whether you are traveling for business or pleasure, vaccinations are important, particularly regarding international travel.
The Center for Disease Control places travel vaccinations in three categories: those that are routine, those that are recommended, and those that are required. Using the CDC guidelines as guidelines of your own is one of the best bets at making sure you stay healthy and well when away from home.
Routine Vaccinations
According the CDC, vaccinations for measles, mumps, rubella, varicella, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, poliomyelitis, hepatitis B, Haemophilus influenza type b, and pneumococcal invasive disease are given out in the US on a routine basis. While many of these are administered during infancy or childhood, you may either be behind on your vaccinations or too old for the vaccination to have existed during your youth. If you fall into either type of category, international travel is good time to make sure all vaccinations are up to date, and to receive any that are not.
Recommended Vaccinations
The vaccinations recommended by the CDC depend on a variety of factors, especially your travel destination. For example, when traveling to Western Europe, it is recommended that you receive both the hepatitis A and hepatitis B vaccinations, whereas when traveling to the South Pacific the vaccination list is much broader. For South Pacific travel, it is recommended that you receive vaccinations for hepatitis A, hepatitis B, Japanese encephalitis, typhoid, medications for Malaria, and - if you will have a great amount of outdoor exposure in rural areas - rabies. The CDC website contains a map of world regions with each region listing their recommended vaccinations.
Your travel destination is only one factor that determines the recommended vaccinations. Your age, health status, whether you have any conditions that suppress your immune system, the month you are traveling, whether you are pregnant or breast feeding, and the activities you will be participating in also play a vital role. Ultimately, you and your health care professional should decide what recommended vaccinations you receive and what ones you do without.
Required Vaccinations
The International Health Regulations require that the yellow fever vaccine be administered for anyone traveling to tropical areas in South America or certain nations of Africa. The Meningococcal vaccination is required by the Saudi Arabia government for anyone traveling to Saudi Arabia during the Hajj, or the Pilgrimage to Mecca.
The CDC recommends that if you are traveling internationally, you set up an appointment either with your primary doctor or a travel doctor at least four to six weeks prior to your departure date. This is because many vaccinations take time to become effective and some may need to be administered as a series of shots, rather than just a single dose.
In cases where your business trip is more spur of the moment - and not scheduled four to six weeks in advance - you can still benefit from seeing your doctor and receiving preventive medications and/or information on international illnesses.
If you know that your job will involve international travel at some point, it is wise to get vaccinations ahead of time, even before a trip is scheduled. This is particularly true for hepatitis A and B as these two vaccinations are recommended for travel to a variety of places and involve a series of shots administered over six months.
No one really cares for shots, save the occasional masochist, but they keep you healthy and allow you to focus on making a sale or landing a deal instead of blowing your nose or breaking your fever. Getting a shot in the arm can help make your business trip successful by keeping you healthy and allowing you to concentrate on the business at hand.
