After being cooped up during the pandemic, a lot of Americans plan to travel abroad for the first time in years. Here’s what to know from health experts. NBC 5’s Lauren Petty reports.
Now that post-pandemic travel is booming, the Northwestern Medicine Travel Clinic is busy too.
“This week has been honeymoon week already and it's only Tuesday,” said Helen Bedross, a registered nurse in the clinic. “A lot of honeymooners going to South Africa and some of the surrounding countries, Asia as well. When it when it opened up, my gosh, the floodgates opened.”
With honeymooners, business travelers and families taking international vacations, the staff at the clinic is working to get travelers prepared. They treat families with children age 6 and up.
“I just think it's really important to think ahead about your travel and what you can do to prevent illness like that's the main thing we want to do here,” said Moira Nguyen, a nurse practitioner in the clinic.
“Two people going to Peru can need totally different things. So it's your activities that you're doing, where you're going, your medical history, any medications that you're on -- all those things will let us know what is safe to give you,” Bedross said.
Some locations won’t require a visit.
“Generally Europe is a pretty, you know, ‘go ahead and enjoy your trip’ without visiting us,” Nguyen said.
Health & Wellness
But what you need in Asia, may be different than what you need in Africa.
“We offer meningitis, yellow fever, pre and post exposure rabies, Japanese encephalitis, the whole gamut of vaccines,” Bedross said.
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It’s not just about immunizations. There are also several prescribed medications you could need, depending on where you’re going and what activities you will be doing.
“We usually give an antibiotic for traveler's diarrhea, but that's just in case. We hope people never have to use it. We also talk about altitude sickness medications, motion sickness, there's some things with freshwater exposure,” Bedross said.
Anti-malaria pills are common too.
When it comes to vaccines, timing is key. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends getting vaccinations four to six weeks prior to departure, if possible.
“Generally, we say at least four weeks. Most vaccines, depending on if it's just a single dose, take at least 10 to 14 days to become effective,” Nguyen said.
There are, however, some two-dose vaccines, so health experts advise you to plan ahead to have a safe and healthy trip.
For more information, you can contact the Northwestern Medicine Travel Clinic at (312) 926-3155.
