Travel Tips Blog

You might be ready to travel some place new and exotic with your whole family, including young children. While this will be a great opportunity to help your children become more exposed to the world around them and discover a new country and culture, it is also a health risk depending on where you are going. There are some parts of the world where it is recommended, and others where it is mandatory, to get vaccines before traveling.

For example, if you are traveling to Japan or another Asian country, you might want to get the encephalitis vaccine. A typhoid vaccine would be recommended if traveling to India. However, these are not mandatory and you can still travel to these countries without the vaccines. Of course it would be at your own risk and risking your child’s health.

Mandatory vaccines are required by the country before you enter and you will usually require written proof. For example, yellow fever vaccine is required as it is a high risk illness that occurs mainly in South Africa and sub-Saharan Africa. This can be fatal and turn into an epidemic quickly, which is why vaccines are important. They are available for infants starting from nine months and last up to 10 years. The Meningococcal Vaccine is recommended for sub-Sahara Africa travel but it is required if traveling to Saudi Arabia during the time of Hajj.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have laid out guidelines and useful information and you can visit their website for more details.

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