After months of planning and anticipation, it’s finally time for your family vacation abroad. While making sure you have your passport and other travel essentials, keeping your family healthy while travelling should also be a top priority – especially if you are travelling to high-risk countries where diseases like hepatitis, yellow fever, and malaria are more prevalent.
By making the effort to plan ahead and schedule travel vaccinations before your holiday abroad, you can keep yourself and your family healthy. It’s important to visit your local travel clinic to consult with a travel health expert at least a month before travelling. Make sure you and your family have received all the routine vaccines (and boosters) such as the MMR, polio, and Chickenpox vaccinations, and get any other travel vaccinations that might be needed.
If you haven’t been vaccinated for chickenpox in the UK, you should consult with a travel health expert at your local travel clinic to find out if you or any of your family members need it, here’s why.
Why Is It Important to Consult a Travel Clinic About the Chickenpox Vaccine?
Chickenpox (aka varicella) is a highly contagious disease with outbreaks that occur worldwide. However, nowadays there are fewer cases since most countries have access to the chickenpox vaccination.
Since the chickenpox vaccine in the UK is not part of the NHS childhood vaccination programme, this can leave unvaccinated people more vulnerable to getting chickenpox when travelling. This is why it’s important to consult with a travel health expert to discuss your travel itinerary. They have the most up-to-date information on worldwide outbreaks of diseases like chickenpox as well as other illnesses and can advise you whether the chickenpox vaccine is necessary for your trip.
Chickenpox
Chickenpox is most common in school-age children but can also affect teenagers or adults who have not already had it or are not vaccinated. Although not life-threatening, this disease can be quite miserable to go through with the tell-tale Chickenpox symptoms that include itchy spots that appear all over the body and face. It can also cause fever, headache, and body pain. Unfortunately, medication cannot cure chickenpox. Chickenpox treatment usually involves over-the-counter pain relievers and fever reducers in addition to calamine lotion and a bath with colloidal oatmeal to treat the itching.
To learn more about our travel clinic services, simply book a consultation with our travel clinic. Our expert team can help you understand what vaccinations are right for you and also give you relevant health advice about your trip.
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