TRAVEL IMMUNIZATIONS

If I am going to be traveling, can you provide travel immunizations?

Tulare County offers a Travel Immunization Clinic by appointment only on Monday afternoons at the Tulare Public Health IAP Office, 1150 So. "K" Street in Tulare (the building behind the Hillman Health Care Center). Call 559-685-2535 for questions, prices or appointments.

The following vaccines are available to international travelers:

• Hepatitis A
• Hepatitis B
• Polio
• Tetanus/Diphtheria
• Measles, Mumps and Rubella
• Typhoid
• Yellow Fever (8/04 - temporarily unavailable)
• Meningococcal (also available to college students)

This services is a "fee for service" cash or check only.

How far in advance should I have travel immunizations?

It's a good idea to start your immunizations 3 to 12 weeks ahead of time depending on your schedule. Everyone should have had a diphtheria tetanus booster in the last ten years and two doses of measles vaccine. Polio vaccine (injectable or oral) is recommended for people traveling in areas outside of the western hemisphere, western Europe, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand. The Hepatitis A vaccine or gamma globulin should be given to people traveling to third world countries, Eastern Europe, particularly the former Soviet states, and Greece. A typhoid vaccine (injectable or oral) is recommended for travel to any third world country including the former Soviet Union. In some individuals, the flu vaccine and pneumovax (against pneumococcal pneumonia) is also helpful.

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Should I get any other immunizations when I travel?

Other vaccines depend where you are traveling. Yellow fever is present in Africa and South America, and will be needed for travel there. Meningococcal meningitis is a problem in large parts of Africa, Nepal, and parts of India; a vaccine is available. Japanese encephalitis is present throughout most of Asia and anyone going on a prolonged trip (over 3 weeks in rural areas) is advised to get vaccinated (a series of three shots over a one month period). Cholera is a problem in most third world countries, but the vaccine isn't very effective; it causes sore arms and fever, and it is no longer required at most border crossings. Because of this, cholera vaccine is no longer available.

If you are staying in a country for many months, you will probably want to get a hepatitis B vaccine and in some cases a rabies vaccine (to help protect against animal bites). Both of these vaccines are a series of three shots.

Why wouldn't I just wait and get my immunizations when I get to my destination?

Keep in mind, it's better to get your injections here. Once you are traveling, needles may not be clean. You will also want to keep your immunization records with you.