Planning a trip is the perfect time to ascertain if your vaccines are up to date, and, if they are not, to begin the process of catching up. Check out the CDC (The U.S. Centers for Disease Control) website at: www.cdc.gov/ They have an informative section on "Traveler's Health" along with a vaccine section regarding recommended vaccines and intervals. The next step is to review your personal vaccine records. Always keep a copy at home for review. If you don't have a copy at home, contact your health care provider (s) to see if they have any of your vaccine records. If not, you can contact previous schools or colleges (depending on when you attended, they may still have your records, or they may not, if too much time has elapsed). Make an appointment with your health care provider, a local clinic or a travel medicine clinic if you need vaccines (or are not sure if you need any, they can give you guidance on this). Always call in advance regarding appointments/scheduling and to see if they have the vaccines on hand that you think you may need. If you have vaccines records, bring them to your appointment for the health care professional to review.
Viewing the CDC website is especially important when preparing for travel outside of the country to educate yourself on any local diseases that are prevalent at your travel destination (s) and what medicines, and, or special vaccines you should have prior to travel. For example, if you are going to an area where Malaria is prevalent, you will need to take a Prescription medication for prevention (prophylaxis). Also, there may be vaccines that are recommended that are not part of routine health care (certain ones for a specific part of the world only). The CDC website also offers a map of the world that lists info regarding disease prevalence by country along with vaccine recommendations; all good info to be aware of before your visit to you health care provider.
You can discuss the info you obtain with your HCP (Health Care Provider); Doctor, Nurse Practitioner or Registered Nurse that is seeing you. If the vaccine(s) for your destination are one of the more obscure ones, you may need to go to a travel clinic as not all doctors offices and clinics carry all vaccines. Your health care provider can guide you on this.
Start this process well in advance before you travel, so you can follow the recommended schedules for Prophylactic Medications and Vaccines with the goal of being covered by the time you begin your trip.
