Hi
This is my first time traveling out of the country let alone to Italy. I read that I should get a Hep A series before I leave. They suggested at least 4 wks before I leave so it kicks in. I leave in 6 weeks, so I need to figure this out soon. I got Heb B series years ago. Is there any other vaccines I should get.
Your doctor should have the best answer
My sister is getting re-vaccinated for measles before we go. She doesn't want to bring anything home to her grandson.
The CDC provides good information, listed by country:
https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/destinations/traveler/none/italy?s_cid=ncezid-dgmq-travel-single-001
if your medical provider doesn't provide travel vaccine services, there are companies that specialize in it, such as this one in the San Francisco Bay Area:
https://www.travelvax.com/services/travel-vaccines
For a consultation fee (I paid $50 in 2015 when I was going to Panama) they review your vaccine history, make recommendations and can provide the (fee-based) vaccines.
No specific vaccines are required or anything. Health issues are very similar to home so the precautions are the same (you’re not going to a developing country where unusual diseases are rampant).
Ask your doctor. Here’s what I’ve heard/done:
Measles is spreading in a lot of places so I’d make sure you are up to date on that. If you had the required childhood vaccines for that there’s no adult dose needed.
Everyone should get a tetanus vaccine every 10 years. There’s no additional risk in Italy, but one could step on a rusty nail there as easily as anywhere else.
Hep A - I just got this vacation for Mexico. I I was told by my doctor that the first dose works within 2 weeks. Then there’s a booster a few months later, but my doc assured me that the first dose works in the meantime. I never had this vaccine for many trips to Europe but it seems like a smart idea in general. There were some hep A cases here in Chicago even. I would get it. My husband got his at CVS and I got mine at the regular doctor. Should be easy to just request it.
I agree with Mira that everyone should get the Hep A shot. Florida has had 19 cases since the first of this year and 2 people died from it. It is part of the routine childhood vaccinations which people 25 and under have already been given.
In some places, the county health department or equivalent can provide you with vaccines. The CDC site that was mentioned is the reference that doctors use. Just be sure to keep a record of any you get.
CWsocial.
Thanks for the CDC link!
LauraM, my pleasure !!
I was a military brat and every two years we moved abroad or back to the states so we were constantly getting shots. However, that was a long time ago and some vaccines we have now weren't available when I was a kid. I know I had chickenpox and mumps but mom can't recall exactly who had what.
Given the variety of outbreaks around the US right now I decided to just get (re)vaccinated. This is what I got:
MMR (Mumps, measles, Rubella/German measles)
Tdap (Tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis/whooping cough)
Hepatitis A and Hepatitis B
Shingles vaccine (for me because I know I had the chickenpox so you may need the chickenpox vaccine)
Kind of ironic we are usually concerned about what we might catch abroad but we should also be concerned about outbreaks here in the US.
jehb2 did you mean to include polio? I know it's been almost eradicated but in recent years there have still been cases in Pakistan.
CT Anyone traveling to NY or Washington State or TN or GA should also be sure their measles shot is up-to-date.
Stan is correct. In CO we have county health departments that have a travel section. Contact them and they have the CDC lists and the vaccines are very cheap. They also give a shot card record similar to the old military style of shot card -- I still have mine from the V Nam days. Assume other states have similar agencies.
I definitely remember getting the polio vaccine as a child. It was a red dot on a sugar cube. It was the only vaccine we enjoyed. In the summer time we would play hospital and give each other the polio vaccine--that is, we ate all my mom's sugar cubes :)
But yes, if you never had the polio vaccine I would definitely get that one. We lived in countries where you could see people severely crippled by polio. It's amazing that a little red dot on a sugar cube stopped this. Of course now it's a shot, but my kids would like to bring back the sugar cube version.
Hi
My dr was able to bill it as preventive so my insurance will cover it Hep A and MMR. Just did both today so I have at least 4 weeks before I leave. I should be covered by then.
