8 Misconceptions About Traveler Vaccines

1. I think those vaccines are too expensive. Have a good time.

Vaccines are expensive to make. You will quickly lose a few tens per injection. On the other hand, these stings sometimes protect you for years. For example, a series of two vaccines against hepatitis A will provide protection against this disease for at least thirty years.

Travellers’ care is not included in the basic insurance, it is for your own account. Some additional health insurance policies do cover (part of) the costs. This does not fall under the deductible.

For traveler vaccinations you can contact the GGD, travel clinics and general practitioners. Research by the Consumers’ Association in 2016 among seventy providers showed that the prices for the consultation and the vaccines differ considerably. Check in advance whether the provider is certified, because only then the quality is guaranteed and the costs are reimbursed by some supplementary insurance policies. This can be done on the website of the National Coordination Center for Traveler Advice (click on ‘vaccination addresses’).

2. During my trip I only go out into nature and I don’t do any dangerous things. I don’t need vaccines.

Many infectious diseases are transmitted by animals. The most notorious biting creature is, of course, the mosquito. It can infect us with, among other things, yellow fever, a disease that you can protect yourself against with a vaccine. Mosquitoes can also transmit malaria. There is no vaccine against this, but there are protective tablets.

In Southeast Asia, travelers should also beware of dogs due to rabies (rabies). Tourists visiting caves may encounter bats. They are often full of infectious diseases. If you are bitten by a dog or other mammal while abroad, it is best to see a doctor right away.

You also run a risk closer to home, even during a walking holiday. In Austria and Sweden, among others, there are ticks that transmit brain inflammation (tick-borne encephalitis) when they bite into you. There is also a vaccine against this.

3. You get the most dangerous diseases through unprotected sex or blood contact – that is far from my bed.

Indeed, a disease such as hepatitis B can only be transmitted through sex or blood. What people often do not realize is that, for example, you can also become infected with hepatitis B by a simple shave at a local hairdresser. But you also run the risk of infection with this liver disease during emergency treatment at a foreign dentist and during hospitalization. . Even a used toothbrush with a little blood on it can infect you with hepatitis B. Then it is better if you are protected with a vaccine, especially if you are going on a long trip. Hepatitis A can be contracted through contaminated food and drink.

4. I often travel to distant countries. In the meantime I am probably immune to the diseases that occur there.

If you travel more often to countries such as Turkey or Indonesia, it seems that you run less risk there in the long run. The opposite is true. You behave more like a resident than a traveller: you share the evening meal with friends or family, go to the hairdresser and visit a local doctor more easily. These are all moments of contagion. People who visit relatives in high-risk countries appear to contract hepatitis B or typhoid fever even more often than tourists.

Sometimes you are immune for life after an infection or after a vaccine. You can check this with a blood test, a so-called titer determination. Waiting for the results takes time; therefore go to the travel clinic at least six weeks before you leave. Born in a risk country? Local residents sometimes have partial protection against malaria, but as soon as they move, the protection diminishes and after a year it is completely gone. So get malaria pills anyway.

5. My partner did not need any vaccines before our trip, the GGD said. So I don’t need them.

That’s the question. A person may not need a travel vaccine because they have previously experienced an infectious disease and have literally been shot and killed as a result. Travel advice is always personal and is tailored to the destination, travel time, age, medical history and medication use. The doctor at the travel clinic will need your itinerary, travel time, list of medicines (available at the pharmacy) and the yellow vaccination booklet to estimate your risk.

6. Everything is sparkling clean in the expensive resort and hotel where I will be staying. You really don’t get anywhere with that.

The risk is smaller in a luxurious environment than when you go backpacking, but it is there. If the cook has the hepatitis A virus on his hands, he can contaminate the entire buffet. Malaria mosquitoes don’t care about hotel walls and an air conditioner or mosquito net don’t protect you enough either.

7. A vaccine is ‘recommended’ for my travel destination. So it doesn’t have to.

Whether a vaccine is ‘mandatory’ or ‘recommended’ says nothing about the risk you run. Vaccines against the most serious diseases are ‘recommended’. So get it anyway.

So why are some vaccines ‘mandatory’? This has to do with the requirements that countries can set for issuing a visa. A vaccine against, for example, yellow fever may be mandatory because a country wants to prevent the import of this disease.

8. I’ve booked a last minute trip and I’m only going for five days. Then vaccination is not necessary.

The travel time does matter. For example, you only have to get the shot against typhoid fever if you go to a risk area for more than two weeks. Early planning is best. Ideally you go to six weeks before departure
the travel clinic. But if it is a last-minute trip, it makes sense to get vaccinated even one day before departure. It takes a few days after a vaccination before your body makes antibodies (and you are protected against the disease). If you are older, this will take a little longer. But an infectious disease also has an incubation period: it takes a while before the virus makes you sick. That jab on the day before departure can still be just in time.

Thanks to travel medicine doctor Floor Elfrink, who works at the tropical consultation hour of the GGD in Amsterdam.

Before you travel to a faraway country, it is not a superfluous luxury to go to the doctor or a traveler’s care clinic. Do the test! Do you recognize the facts and fables about travel vaccines?