Travel is fantastic, but if you happen to be exploring certain destinations, whether it’s for a holiday, business, gap year, volunteer project, pilgrimage or emigration, you may need specific vaccinations to prevent certain illnesses and diseases.
Typically this is the case for parts of Africa, Asia and South America.
By using a travel clinic such as The Globe Travel Health Clinic in Norwich you will receive expert medical advice for your particular destination.
Sarah Buckley, who owns the clinic, has spent many years working as a senior nurse and has particular expertise in the field, having gained the highly respected Diploma in Travel Medicine.
You can of course take inoculation advice from your tour operator or travel agent, but you may find they simply give you the stipulated government information on a particular destination.
A good example of this is travel to the Gambia. If you enter Gambia directly from Europe you do not need a Yellow Fever vaccination, but this disease is present in the whole country. It’s nasty and can be fatal. You would be advised by The Globe Travel Health Clinic to have the vaccination.
Your regular GP will administer travel vaccinations, but they are often not specialists in the field of travel medicine and can lack the time to give you comprehensive advice on a whole range of additional health matters, such as the huge surge in cases of dengue fever in south-east Asia. This nasty virus causes severe joint and muscle pain. The advice is to apply an insect repellent containing at least 40% DEET.
Gap year students will often country hop in places like Asia and South America. The vaccination requirements in all of these countries will differ widely. The Globe Travel Health Clinic will provide comprehensive advice for your trip together with specific medication kits.
The diarrhoea treatment kit for example not only contains Imodium and rehydration sachets but also an antibiotic which is available by prescription only – organising this before you go could be invaluable in aiding a quick recovery.
Better still though, ensure you act to prevent it in the first place. There is plenty of advice on how to do this from the The Globe Travel Health Clinic too.
Advice changes all the time and a dedicated travel clinic will make it their job to know exactly what’s going on and pass precautionary information onto you. They will ensure you are well prepared for your trip and far more likely to remain illness-free while you are away. After all, who wants to be ill when they’re off on a great adventure…