Immunisation

Practicalities Health Immunisation Practicalities 

What Protection Will It Offer?

No vaccination offers 100% immunity. If you are seriously worried about your child catching a disease it is best to avoid a destination where this could happen.

If you are simply looking for a standard level of protection, as children are usually more up to date with their immunisations than adults, they may be fine as they are.

If your children do need extra shots it is worth bearing in mind the belief, as reported by Dr Larry Goodyer in the Independent newspaper, that travel vaccines tend not to be quite as effective in very young children. They are still advised but because they offer less protection extra care will have to be taken.

Even if you do not want to immunise or do not wish to do so according to the recommended schedule, some non-conformist practitioners recommend at least polio and tetanus if a child is travelling outside western Europe and north America.

If you are travelling anywhere Yellow Fever is recommended, this is considered vital for Caucasians who are reported almost certain to die if they contract it and are unprotected. However, the vaccination is seldom given to young children and not at all under 5 months (sometimes 9 months) so any destinations requiring this are best avoided with infants and even slightly older children if you have any doubts at all about their immune system.

What Else Can You Do?

When travelling it is always wise to take steps to ensure that your child's immune system is in tip top shape. If you use complementary practitioners they should be able to help with this but, as with immunisation, you should contact them about this at least two months before departure to discuss the options and start any treatment.

If you want to know more about alternatives you can contact The Informed ParentP O Box 4481, Worthing, West Sussex BN11 2WH tel:/fax: 01903 212 969, informedparent. It can provide travel information and pointers on alternatives. Note that fully trained homoeopaths consider homoeopathic vaccination to be an impossibility. It is therefore extremely doubtful that these have any value.

A Final Point

The Hospital for Tropical Diseases has estimated that travellers have about a one in 50,000 chance of catching anything they can be vaccinated against.

The diseases they are likely to catch are those from mosquitoes and poor hygiene. This is why it is so important to take care with these.