The Traveller’s Shield: Every Vaccine Is a Travel Vaccine

For the first episode of Travel Unravelled season 2, our team of experts—Dr. Anne McCarthy, Dr. Albie de Frey, Dr. Sarah McGuinness and Dr. Aisha Khatib—encourage us to reframe the way we think about vaccines and travel health.

Getting vaccinated before travel shouldn’t be just for “exotic” trips or the wealthy—it’s essential for everyone. In our connected world, travel health is global health.

The topic has never been more relevant. Right now, measles is resurging in the U.S., Canada and Europe, polio is being detected in wastewater in multiple countries, and mpox cases are re-emerging with new variants. Influenza is spreading year-round in the tropics, and outbreaks are following international travellers. Whether you're heading to Bali, Barcelona, or Boston, the diseases of the world don’t respect borders—and vaccines can build the protection you need.

So what if we saw all vaccines as travel vaccines? And used any healthcare visit by a traveller as a chance for public health interventions?

No matter how “safe” your home country feels, vaccinations are crucial in protecting the health of our global community. Tune in to learn more.

LINKS


DISCUSSION POINTS
00:00 Introduction
02:31 Every vaccine is a travel vaccine
03:15 The four major preventable diseases
03:31 Why vaccinate before travelling?
06:27 How necessary is a measles vaccine?
06:52 Measles symptoms
07:50 Recent measles outbreaks
10:51 Measles early signs and symptoms
12:10 Why are there measles outbreaks?
12:36 Is a Measles booster shot necessary?
16:54 - Solving outbreaks with herd immunity
21:46 - Mpox
27:24 - Mpox vs. Measles
31:22 - Flu/Influenza
34:34 - Why am I still getting sick after being vaccinated?
39:36 - Polio
44:42 - Types of polio vaccines
49:00 - Final remarks

[DonnaTaibossigai]

Thanks for this. I enjoyed the global perspectives.

[ClareAverbach]

This podcast was so interesting and informative, highlighting the global challenges of both travel medicine practitioners and travelers.

The thorough pre-travel consultation that addresses vaccines, medications, prescriptions, education, and vaccine administration can be overwhelming for all parties involved. The total cost of the consultation can be daunting for clients, who often have to prioritize the vaccines they will receive that day based on cost, availability, underlying medical conditions, administration requirements, and more.

And adult travelers often no longer have their childhood vaccine records, assuming they “must have received them”. This is particularly important with the MMR vaccine and the current measles outbreak highlights this issue. Polio vaccine (IPV) may also get swept in with the other childhood vaccines.

The definition of “travel vaccines” tends to focus on travel requirements and limited access (like yellow fever vaccine). But as Dr. Albie de Frey noted, public health and travel health are closely intertwined, raising the potential for exposure to less exotic pathogens anywhere.

And every communicable disease is just a plane flight away.