Vaccines Recommended for Global Travelers

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Individuals travel for many reasons, including holidays, recreation, business, visiting friends and relatives, health treatments, educational experiences or others purposes. The World Tourism Organization predicts that international tourist travel may top 1 billion by 2010. Given the growth of international travel, the area travel medicine has expanded of the worldwide. The vaccination is one of the steps that health providers for giving travelers, and the vaccines recommended prior to international travel can be divided into three fases: those that are routine, those that may be required and those that are recommended on the basis an individual risk assessment for the traveler. Considerations in choosing vaccines include destination; season and duration of travel; activities planned; severity of disease; whether the trip will be urban, rural, or remote from medical care; time remaining before departure; vaccine availability, cost, and the number of doses needed; history of allergy to vaccines or their components; medications currently being taken; pregnancy; chronic illness; and underlying medical conditions such as a compromised immune system. Vaccines recommended for travelers and that will be discussed: cholera, hepatitis A, Typhoid fever, Japanese encephalitis, meningococcal disease, rabies and Tick-borne encephalitis. Conclusion: Vaccination is a highly effective method of preventing certain infectious diseases. Travel medicine practitioners must be care when to evaluate immunization status of the traveler with goal to consider or not to vaccine for patient. Travelers should be informed about the risks of contracting disease, as well as, the risks of adverse events from immunizations.