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East Valley Vaccination and Examination Center |
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Travel Immunizations Our goal is to help you have a safe and comfortable trip. Using information provided by World Health Organization, Immunization Action Coalition and the Center for Disease Control, we are able to obtain updated health and medical information for the areas you will visit. Upon arrival, you will be asked to complete a brief medical/health questionnaire. It is helpful to know the activities you may be accomplishing during your trip. A touristy sightseeing bus drive down the back roads for 30 minutes is not the same as a 30 minute backpack through an alligator infested swampland. Based upon the information you provide and a health interview we can supply you with a list of the latest required and recommended vaccinations for your area of travel. Office visit prices are based on time starting at $30.
(the following list is a brief summary of recommendations for the generic traveler. Specifics will be provided at your visit) Tetanus ...is still a fatal disease. To prevent having to seek medical attention during travel, a Tdap booster is recommended if you have not had a tetanus-diphtheria or tetanus-diphtheria-pertussis booster within the past 5 years. Hepatitis A ...is a common viral infection contracted by ingestion of contaminated water, food, or through contaminated human direct (shaking hands) and indirect (drinking out of a water glass placed on the table by someone shedding viral hepatitis A cells). This two shot series should be administered 6 months apart. This vaccine replaces the need a few years ago for missionaries to receive rather large and uncomfortable injections of gamma globulin (“the peanut butter shot”) in their backsides every eight weeks. Hepatitis B ...is unusual in travelers, but is transmitted by blood or body fluid transmission. The general concern about Hepatitis B is that, while you are not an IV drug user that shares needles with other travelers, you may have an accident, incur a wound, and receive first aid from an infected person. The opposite is also true. You could happen upon an accident and, in rendering first aid, become contaminated with that person's infected body fluid or blood. This vaccine is available in a three shot series, Frequent travelers to exotic places, and health care workers, should have a lab test 60 to 90 days after the last immunization to see if antibodies have been produced in sufficient quantities to provide protection. Typhoid and Paratyphoid Transmitted in a manner similar to Hepatitis A, this disease can cause a life-threatening inflammation and infection of the GI tract, causing nausea, cramps, and profuse diarrhea, with fever and chills. The concern in traveling is that many people can be carriers of this disease and have no symptoms – yet transmit to you (Remember “Typhoid Mary” who, from 1900 to 1907, while working as a cook in various domestic homes and restaurants, triggered a series of outbreaks in Long Island, New York). Hemophilus Influenza ...A childhood disease that causes frequent ear infections, it is also a source of respiratory infection that becomes much more serious. HIB vaccine is generally not given to persons after their fourth birthday, but adults who have their spleen removed, and/or who may be at risk for this infection by virtue of other diseases should receive this vaccine. Influenza ...The formula for flu vaccine is updated annually based upon World Health Organization and the US Center for Disease Control's guidelines. Travelers to the Northern Hemisphere should have an annual vaccine if traveling during the fall/winter months. While travelers to the Southern Hemisphere should have an annual flu vaccine if traveling during the spring/summer months. We can come to your home or business (for groups of 20 or more in the East Valley area) for a minimal fee. Polio ...While nearly eradicated, there has been resurgence in polio - due in part to the public's passive attitude concerning childhood vaccination to eradicate it. Due to its scattered prevalence throughout the world, and its transmission through contaminated water and fecal matter, it is recommended adult travelers who have not been vaccinated since childhood receive one booster dose of injectable polio vaccine. Oral polio vaccine is no longer distributed in the United States routinely. Yellow Fever … Yellow fever is a mosquito born illness. Due to the problems with transmission, outbreaks and fatality rate, it may be required that you have an International Certificate of Vaccination with a Yellow Fever stamp to enter and exit certain parts of the world. We carry the certificates and are a certified Yellow Fever Vaccination Center. Meningococcal Disease Meningitis is a bacterial disease caused by bacteria, creating an infection of the brain and spinal cord covering. It is most common in infants less than one year old, international travelers (especially those to west Africa), people with certain medical conditions (immune system disorders, spleen disease or surgical removal), and in the United States, college freshman living in dormitories. Approximately 2,600 people a year get meningococcal disease in the United States, and 10-15% of those people die, despite antibiotic treatment. Of those who survive, another 10% lose arms or legs, become deaf, have problems with their nervous systems, become mentally retarded, or suffer seizures or strokes. |
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Vaccinations: Overseas Travel |
