Professor Larry Goodyear Urges Travellers to get their Vaccines

on May 27, 2015 at 1:30 am

Professor Larry Goodyear is the Medical Director at Nomad Travel. When it comes to travelling, there are many things consider, including flights, accommodation, and travel insurance, making it hard to remember to book your travel vaccines.

However this is arguably one of the most important things you can do before heading off on your trip.

This should be one of the first things you do as you’re in the planning stages of your trip, as you can get some vaccines through your GP but it can be hard to get an appointment at the last minute, and some vaccines need to be done at least four to six weeks before travel.

If you’re going to be travelling in a malaria area you’ll need an antimalarial such as Doxy, however this should begin at least a week before you leave, giving you time to build enough of it into your system, and see if you have negative effects such as nausea.

Vaccines can prevent many serious diseases such as yellow fever, typhoid, polio, measles, hepatitis A, tetanus, and even the flu. Some countries will refuse travellers entry unless they have proof of a yellow fever vaccination.

Professor Goodyear maintains that vaccines can be the difference between enjoying your trip or ending up in the emergency room or sick for months at home. “It can sometimes be hard to find an appointment with a GP just before you travel”, he says, “if you’re having trouble finding an appointment with your doctor, consider using a private travel clinic instead.”

In fact travel clinic nurses are often more experienced than nurses at a GP when it comes to disease risk abroad, since they’re researching and discussing these every day. There are currently travel clinics in each Nomad Travel store, and with ten stores across the UK you can definitely get expert advice and will soon know which vaccinations you need for each country, and any other risks you need to watch out for.

“20-minute consultations are free, and you’ll usually find that the prices of vaccines are either cheaper or the same as other providers”, Professor Goodyear said.

It’s important that you focus on your health while travelling abroad. While it’s important that you’re received all of your necessary vaccines, here are some other tips for staying healthy while traveling:

Only drink bottled water. Ice should also be filtered, and will usually be in a tube shape with a hole in the middle indicating that it has been made with filtered water.
Only eat and drink pasteurised dairy products
Wash fruit and vegetables thoroughly, and with bottled or filtered water if possible. If this isn’t available, try to stick to fruits which can be peeled, such as kiwi, watermelon, bananas, and oranges.
Use insect repellent and a mosquito net if you’re staying in an area which is a high malaria or dengue risk.
Wash your hands even more often than usual, and take an alcohol-based hand sanitiser. Many countries won’t have very clean bathrooms or provide toilet paper, so you may want to take tissues, wet wipes, and sanitiser for those bathroom situations.
Try not to touch any animals, especially dogs, monkeys and birds, regardless of how cute they are.

Editors notes:

Nomad Travel was established by Paul Goodyer in 1990 and now has 10 stores throughout the UK. You’ll find travel experts in each store who can help you with recommendations for travel products, as well as travel clinics who can help with vaccines and travel advice.