So you’ve booked your trip to some exotic destination that you’ve only heard about from scrolling Tiktok, and through all the excitement of vacation planning you suddenly have this itching thought…
Do you need to see a travel clinic before your trip?
Short Answer: Not always
Booking a travel clinic appointment is usually ideal 6-8 weeks before you fly out. But sometimes that isn’t possible if the trip is planned with short notice and you have to first figure out the flights, packing, hotels, etc. Our health tends to take a backseat without us realizing. That is where the importance of a travel clinic comes to play. It takes the stress off of figuring out what you need to do to stay healthy and safe for your trip. But whether or not you should make time for a travel clinic appointment will depend on many things.
Like…
Where do you plan on going?
What do you plan on doing?
Have you travelled before?
For example, a family vacation to Italy is going to look a lot more different than a solo backpacking trip around Southeast Asia.
And I think that’s one of the things I like the best about being a travel health pharmacist. I get to hear all about your travel plans and be inspired (or maybe steal ideas from) while figuring out what is the best way to keep you safe and healthy.
Every trip I go over with travellers comes with their aspirations of what they want to make of it, but also their own set of concerns. It’s like trying to put together a puzzle and your destination, the itinerary, the length of your trip, your accommodations, medications, medical conditions, travel experience, and vaccine history are all the pieces we have to work with.
Travel health is not one-size fits all.
Travel Health is Individualized
Everyone travels differently. I remember one young girl I was doing a travel health consultation for was going on her first ever international vacation to Tokyo, Japan. She had lived her entire life in a small city in northern British Columbia and felt quite anxious about the trip.
Now I have been to Tokyo myself 3 times and I had never gone to a travel health clinic before those trips. But in her case, she wanted to try eating sushi but was worried that she could get sick from eating raw fish.
We ended up going over food safety habits, providing her with the hepatitis A vaccination, and gave her the options of antibiotics if she felt she needed them. In my opinion, a travel health consultation wasn’t exactly necessary for her since Tokyo is a low risk destination, but I think it gave her the reassurance to go through with this trip and ease her anxiety.
On the opposite end of the spectrum I had another young man planning to travel around Vietnam. His trip was about a month long and he had several activities in mind, like doing a motorbike road trip around the mountains, staying in various hostels, and visiting the countryside.
His consultation definitely took a lot longer than my patient going to Tokyo because we had to go over every date of his itinerary to see which city he will be in, whether he will be entering a malaria zone, or if he will be participating in activities that will increase his risk of catching anything infectious. Safe to say lots of vaccines were provided and emphasis on high risk activities was discussed.
So as you can see, there is no one single answer for everybody when it comes to travel health.
So Who Should Actually Go?
If you have or require any of the following for your trip, this is when I would consider a travel health consultation:
Complicated Trips
If you are planning a complicated or long trip I think that is when you will get the most benefit from seeing a travel clinic. Trips like the Vietnam one I mentioned above generally involve a lot of careful planning around destination and activities because of the inherent risks they can carry. The longer the trip, the more risk they come with and the more you may have to prepare for.
What exactly is considered a complicated trip? I would say if you are travelling between at least 3 different cities or regions, entering any rural areas, if the trip lasts for longer than 4 weeks, or if your activities involve exploring the wilderness or ascending high altitudes. Any of these factors can change how you should prepare for your trip.
Medical Condition
If you have a medical condition that requires a lot of monitoring or is unstable, a travel clinic can provide some guidance on how to manage it abroad. It is always advised that people with conditions such as pregnancy, chronic illnesses, or a weakened immune system see a healthcare professional before travel.
While you can definitely do the research yourself and ask for vaccines and medications from your primary healthcare provider, oftentimes I find the time constraints at these appointments make it hard to go over all your concerns, as opposed to an appointment at a travel clinic. Travel health experts are knowledgeable on how to manage your health and medications while abroad and what interactions they could have with potential vaccines and medications for your trip.
Vaccines
If you require a lot of different vaccines then a trip to the travel clinic may be better for you. This is because there are many different types of vaccines, interactions between vaccines, and interactions with health conditions. Travel medicine changes frequently so a complex itinerary in the hands of someone who practices travel medicine regularly can often provide more detailed recommendations tailored for you.
Additionally, sometimes a visit to a travel clinic may be required as well if you plan on going to regions where yellow fever is endemic. Only a clinic designated as a yellow fever vaccination centre may administer this vaccine and provide you with valid proof of this vaccination.
You can look up yellow fever clinics here for Canada and here for the USA.
When You Don’t Need a Travel Clinic
If you are going to major city centres for trips that will be 2 weeks or under, I don’t think a trip to a travel clinic is absolutely necessary. Major modern cities are typically low-risk destinations (i.e.Cities in the USA, Australia, Western Europe, etc).
It may be a good idea to get your routine vaccinations up to date (tetanus, measles, flu, etc) but your usual healthcare provider or pharmacy can do this for you. You can also consider getting a hepatitis A vaccine if you want a little extra protection because food safety standards even in a modern industrialized city overseas will differ from North America. Check out my post on hepatitis vaccinations here.
However, if you have concerns regarding your health or your destination it doesn’t hurt to get a bit of extra advice at a travel clinic.
What Actually Happens During a Travel Consultation?
A typical consultation will be going over what you have planned for your trip and any health concerns you may have. Discussions will revolve around which vaccines you should or shouldn’t get, medications that you may want to bring for symptom management like anti-diarrheals or motion sickness, and other health concerns that you may not have necessarily thought about like environmental hazards and personal safety. Check out my travel health checklist to get a better idea.
You will most likely get vaccines the very same day so it is a good idea to have this consultation at least a month before your trip so that you have enough time to complete a vaccine series for maximum protection. Of course you will never be pressured into getting vaccines as the point of a travel health appointment is to help you make informed decisions for your health and safety.
How to Get the Most Out of Your Appointment
Usually when you make an appointment at the travel clinic you’ve likely filled out an intake form. The intake form typically would include your medical history, list of vaccinations and medications, itinerary, and activities that you will be participating in at the bare minimum.
If for whatever reason you weren’t able to provide these before your appointment, I would suggest preparing the following:
- Medical history – this includes any medical conditions you have, your most updated immunization history, and a list of medications that you currently take.
- Itinerary – I know sometimes trips don’t exactly go as planned so try your best to bring the most accurate itinerary you plan on following. This includes the dates of where you will be, mode of transportation between locations, activities you are thinking of participating in, and reason for travel
- Your Travel Experience – be prepared to talk a little bit about the experience you have travelling abroad. This will help determine your travel style and focus the conversations tailored to you a bit better.
- Illness – No I don’t mean bring illness into the clinic. If you are feeling sick the day of your appointment check with your clinic if it is still okay to come in. Sometimes you may need to postpone if you were scheduled to receive vaccines that could make you feel worse.
Travel health isn’t just a list of vaccines you need for your destination. ChatGPT or Google can provide you with that. It’s really about understanding you as a traveller and taking the necessary precautions that work for you.
Two people can be visiting the same country but have vastly different recommendations because of what they’re doing, where they’re going, and their health needs. Like I’ve said before, travel health is not one-size fits all and that means there is no definitive answer to if you need to visit a travel clinic before your vacation or not.
I hope after reading this you have a good idea of what Dose & Destination is trying to achieve. Whether it is a weekend trip to New York or a week-long tour through the Galápagos Islands, I want to bring attention to everything travellers should pay attention to, whether big or small, to make trip planning around your health easier.
Check out the destinations page if you’re not sure where to start or feel free to reach out to me at [email protected].
