What is a vaccination and how does it work?
A vaccination or immunisation is an important means of protecting you against infectious diseases. A travel vaccination protects you against infectious diseases that occur in other, distant countries. During a vaccination, a vaccine is introduced into a muscle or under the skin with a needle. A vaccine contains pathogens (bacteria or viruses), but in a harmless form. In response to the vaccine, the body produces antibodies as if it were dealing with the real pathogen. Once the body has produced these antibodies, the real pathogen cannot make you ill for a certain period of time.
(Travel) vaccinations may be compulsory, recommended or optional. Here you can find, for each country, which vaccination(s) are compulsory, recommended or optional for your destination. A compulsory or recommended vaccination applies in principle to everyone. In addition to the conditions at your destination, your personal situation and travel plans are variables that have a decisive bearing on whether a vaccination is optional in your case. Personal advice is given solely during a consultation with a specially trained Certified Travel Health Doctor or Travel Health Assistant.
Preparation and side effects
In preparation for a vaccination, you are required to inform us of any allergies, in particular to egg protein, of whether you have had a serious reaction to a vaccination in the past, and of which medicines you take.
Please do let us know if you have a fear of needles. We will of course take extra account of this. A fear of needles should never be a reason to travel unprotected. If you travel unprotected, you expose yourself and others to serious health risks. (Travel) vaccinations can never be replaced by other means, such as tablets.
It is not advisable to be vaccinated while you have a fever.
Vaccinations usually have no side effects. The injection site may remain mildly to moderately tender to the touch for up to a few days after the injection, and may become slightly red and/or swell a little. A mild fever or slightly raised temperature, nausea or lethargy occurs in only a few people.
How long before departure should you be vaccinated?
How far in advance you need to start being vaccinated depends, in addition to your personal situation and travel plans, largely on which vaccination(s) you need. You should prepare carefully and arrange this well before your departure.
Some vaccinations consist of several doses, for example against hepatitis B and against tick-borne encephalitis, which is why you should start these at least six months before departure. There are also vaccinations, for example against Japanese encephalitis and against tuberculosis, that you should receive at least one and a half months before departure. There are also vaccinations, for example against yellow fever or against meningococcal disease, that you should receive at least ten days beforehand, and yet others such as DTP against diphtheria, tetanus and polio that you should receive at least three days before departure.
The vaccinations and time frames mentioned above are not a complete overview but merely a few examples. As soon as your travel plans are known, we strongly advise you to get in touch with us for expert travel medicine advice and to schedule any vaccinations you may need against (travel) diseases. We keep all the (travel) vaccinations we offer in stock.