Required vs recommended

Lots of people get stuck on these two terms in travel medicine. Required means just that - you HAVE to have the immunization to enter a country. There are only 2 REQUIRED immunizations (that is - required by international rules) available. Those are yellow fever and meningitis. The ONLY REQUIRED use of meningitis vaccine is for travelers to the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca. . Otherwise, the only required vaccine is yellow fever. A big BUT... the organization you might be traveling with (as with a mission organization, etc) may have their own imposed requirements - and those must be met if you plan to accompany that organization to the destination. In that event, the organization is trying to cover their bases on liability as well as trying to keep the travelers under their watch healthy.

The only way you can travel to a country REQUIRING the yellow fever vaccine without one is to have a vaccine waiver. Those waivers must originate from a certified yellow fever site and must be due to a medical reason (severe allergy to vaccine component, age, immunosupressed condition, and some medical situations).

One the other hand, RECOMMENDED vaccines are those that have been deemed by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), and the World Health Organization (WHO) that will help protect the traveler in an area endemic for that disease. It truly is in the traveler's best health interest to heed these recommendations. Granted, there are some itineraries that put the traveler at a very low risk of contracting a disease that is endemic to that area - but that should be evaluated on a person-by-person, step-by-step itinerary.

Recommendations also apply to malaria medications (prophylaxis). Malaria kills. There are various medications - specific to location - that are available and should always be used in those areas highlighted by the CDC and WHO.

What is travel medicine?

I can't begin to count the number of times I have been asked to describe what is meant by travel medicine. Today, another client suggested that I start a blog...so here goes. Emporiatrics is the formal name for the practice of travel medicine. It is a great profession to have when you are on a cruise and are playing "stump the cruise staff". They never guess correctly.

So many people just decide to take an international trip - buy an airline ticket - throw in a rental car or perhaps a tour or two and set off on their adventure. Unfortunately, many get more than they bargain for - they become ill during their trip - and with illnesses that could have been prevented if they had visited a travel medicine clinic and had been educated and/or immunized prior to their trip.

There is so much mis-information on the internet and there are excellent websites. There are concepts that are hard to tease out of many websites. Each traveler is unique - having different medical history, different age, different itineraries, different resources, - you get the point. My goal is to help travelers have an enjoyable trip and stay healthy while having wonderful experiences. I have traveled to 125 countries and all continents - and have remained healthy throughout the world.

Tomorrow - I will explore the difference between the terms REQUIRED and RECOMMENDED when used in the world of emporiatrics.