The single most common problem with travel vaccination is timing. Some vaccines need more than one dose spread over weeks, and some need time to take effect. Leaving it until the week before you fly narrows the options considerably.
How far ahead to book
Aim for six to eight weeks before departure. That gives room for multi-dose courses, for the immune response to develop, and for any prescriptions or specialist referrals you might need.
If you are travelling sooner than that, still book. There is almost always something worth doing — a single-dose vaccine, malaria prevention, a travel medical kit, advice on food and water, or a plan for managing an existing condition abroad. Last-minute is better than nothing.
If you are travelling for longer than a month, going somewhere remote, working in healthcare, visiting family in your country of origin, pregnant, or living with a chronic condition, book earlier still. Those situations need more planning. See travel health.
What the appointment covers
A travel consultation is not just a needle. Your GP will work through where you are going, when, for how long, and what you will actually be doing when you get there — because a fortnight in a resort and three months backpacking need different advice to the same country.
- Vaccines recommended or required for your destinations, checked against what you have already had.
- Routine vaccines you may be behind on — tetanus, measles and whooping cough among them.
- Malaria risk and, where relevant, prevention tablets.
- Food, water and insect precautions for the specific region.
- Traveller’s diarrhoea — what to pack and when to use it.
- Managing existing conditions abroad, including enough medicine, a letter for customs, and what to do if things go wrong.
- Altitude, motion sickness, jet lag and blood clot risk on long flights.
- Documentation — some countries require proof of yellow fever vaccination for entry.
The vaccines that need time
This is why the six-to-eight-week rule exists. Several travel vaccines are not one-and-done.
Courses spread over weeks
- Hepatitis B — multiple doses over weeks to months, with accelerated schedules available where time is short.
- Rabies — a course of doses before travel, worth considering for remote areas, long stays, cyclists and animal workers.
- Japanese encephalitis — one or two doses depending on which vaccine is used and your circumstances; relevant for parts of Asia and for some rural Australian regions.
- Typhoid, hepatitis A and yellow fever — generally single doses, but they need time to take effect, and yellow fever must be given at an approved centre.
Your GP will tell you which of these apply to your itinerary and which are genuinely optional. Not every vaccine is needed for every trip — only what your itinerary actually calls for.
Note that most travel vaccines sit outside the National Immunisation Program, so the vaccine itself carries a cost. Reception will explain what applies when you book. See fees.
The parts people forget
Vaccines are the visible half of travel health. The rest matters just as much.
- Take enough medicine for the whole trip plus a fortnight, in original packaging, in your carry-on.
- Check whether your medicines are legal at your destination. Some common Australian medicines are controlled substances elsewhere.
- Get a letter from your GP listing your conditions and medicines if you take anything regularly or travel with needles.
- Buy travel insurance that covers your existing conditions, and read what it excludes.
- Know how you would get help. Where the nearest decent hospital is, and what your insurer requires you to do first.
And if you come home unwell — particularly with a fever — tell us where you have been. It changes what we look for, sometimes considerably.
What to bring to the appointment
- Your itinerary, including dates and every country you will pass through.
- Any record of previous vaccinations, including your childhood record if you have it.
- A list of your current medicines.
- Your Medicare card.
- Details of anything you are planning that carries specific risk — diving, trekking at altitude, working with animals, volunteering in healthcare.
Book a longer appointment and say it is for travel. It needs more than the standard slot, particularly if you are visiting several countries.
This article is general information for people in the Gosford and Central Coast area. It is not advice about your situation and it does not replace a consultation with your own doctor. If you are worried about a symptom, book an appointment or call us on (02) 4311 3800. In an emergency, call 000.
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