[Vaccination for travel]

Abstract

The risk for infectious diseases is increased during travel in most cases. Highly efficient vaccines are available for many of these infectious diseases. Other vaccines like the typhoid fever polysaccharide vaccine have a lower efficacy. For some infectious diseases no vaccines are available. Counselling travelers about avoiding mosquito bites, hygiene of food and drinking water, malaria prophylaxis and avoiding the risks for sexually transmittable diseases (STD) is therefore crucial. These measures will not be dealt in detail in this article. When counselling travelers about travelers about vaccinations coverage of standard vaccinations is recommended by national guidelines.The decision for or against a travel vaccination should be individualized, taking into account not only the country of travel but also the season, the duration of the journey, accommodation during travel, contact to indigenous human population and activities during travel.