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There’s many things that need to be organised for travel or a holiday overseas, with one of the most important a visit to a doctor to make sure your are immunised against any potential health threats in the countries you are visiting.
Medical experts say you need to visit your health professional at least four weeks before you are planning to depart Australia.
A qualified professional can give you up to date advice on what you’ll need which will all depend on where you are going, how long you are staying, what you’ll be doing while there and the state of your current health.
Dr Peter Love is the travel health professional/specialist at Gardens Medical Group in Albury. He says he is continually amazed by how unaware individuals can be about some of the risk factors they face when visiting countries such as Bali, south-east Asia, Fiji, Africa, South America, India and many more.
“It’s really important if you are travelling anywhere overseas that you are up to date with your normal vaccinations such as tetanus, polio, measles, mumps, chickenpox, flu and hepatitis B but there are also a range of other localised risks such as things like malaria, cholera, dengue, meningococcal, yellow fever and Zika virus which can occur in some countries.”
Dr Love is trained in tropical medicine and a member of the International Society of Travel Medicine so he is well aware of the dangers of travelling to countries without adequate protection.
“Travellers, whether they be families or business people, also need to take into account their current health and plan to manage any allergies they might have if visiting countries with higher levels of pollution than they are used to. However, it’s no use leaving your health check until one week before heading off to ‘exotica’. If you don’t plan properly the trip could work out a totally different experience to what was anticipated.”
It’s no use leaving your health check until one week before heading off to ‘exotica’. If you don’t plan properly the trip could work out a totally different experience to what was anticipated.”
- Dr Peter Love, Travel Health Specialist
An individual health summary can also look at the type of activities you’ll be undertaking and make sure you are protected for any incidences that might occur.