Photo and essay by Mohammad Ameen Al-Mahmood
What kind of vaccines should you take before you travel from your home country to another? Many people take their bags with clothes and things that they need after arriving to their target country. Many people forget to take the vaccines before they travel to a new country. What does vaccine mean? Vaccine means the biological molecules that give the human body specific immunity against specific diseases. Some vaccines work against bacterial diseases, but the major kinds of vaccines act against the viral diseases. Viral diseases can’t be treated by antibiotics, so you should take the vaccines to protect yourself from these diseases. There are four steps that should be considered by a doctor to make a vaccine schedule before they leave their home country.
The first step is to determine the person’s age. There are many diseases that affect people in all ages, but sometimes the small person is more susceptible than older one. For example, meningitis occurs in people under 21 years old, so those people should take the meningitis vaccine before travel to a country where meningitis has already diffused. On the other hand, there are other diseases that affect all ages, such as Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, and Influenza (Flu). All ages are susceptible. The Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C are more dangerous than Hepatitis A because they cause liver cancer. That means you should take the Hepatitis vaccine in your home country, not just when travelling to a different country, to maintain yourself against these diseases.
The next step is to focus on the kinds of diseases that are present in the new country that you have decided to visit. Some countries have endemic diseases. For instance, if you want to go to Middle Eastern countries, you should take Tuberculosis vaccine (TB) because these countries have significant incidence of TB. Other countries have recorded high incidence of Hepatitis B, such as South America's countries. Also the Eastern Asia’s countries have a high risk of respiratory diseases, for example, Flu. Thus, the doctor selects the kind of vaccine that you need to take depending up on the diseases that are endemic in this country.
The third step is to indicate the vaccine strains. Does the vaccine strain have the same disease strain? Some viral diseases have many strains. For instance, the Influenza virus has different types, subtypes and strains. Therefore, if you agree to take an Influenza vaccine, you should take the strain that is present in the country you will visit. Before I came to the United States, I took the Influenza vaccine in Iraq, but I was infected with the same disease after I arrived to the United States. That means there are variations between the disease's strains and vaccine's strains. In addition, there are huge differences between Iraq and the U.S. disease’s strains. In this case, the doctor prefers that you take these kinds of vaccines in the new country that you will travel to it. Sometimes you can take polyvalent vaccine (the vaccine consists of more than one strain). This kind of vaccine gives your body protection against different strains of the diseases.
Fourth, after you take a vaccine, you may need to retake it after a period of time. This period differs from one disease to another. The doctor decides this period and how many dose you should take. For example, the Influenza vaccine protects the body less than six months, and after that, your body is susceptible to infection. Others vaccines have a long duration of action, for instance, TB vaccine. You took one dosage of TB vaccine when you were a child, and this vaccine gives your body a long duration of protection. If you took the Influenza vaccine five months ago, you should take a booster dose (the new dose given after the first dose of vaccine to improve the immune response). A booster dose gives your body the best immunization and protects your body for a long period. Sometimes there is a previous infection. For example, if you have a history of infection of Chicken Pox, that gives your body natural protection against this disease forever. This is called active immunization. Therefore, if you have a history of Chicken Pox infection, you do not need to take the Chicken Pox vaccine.
Finally, consider whether you are healthy on the day you are scheduled to receive a vaccination. There is a risk of vaccination during infection. For this reason you should not take any type of vaccines if you are sick. Therefore, you must report the doctor about your health status before you take the vaccines.
In conclusion, the five considerations of a pre travelling vaccine schedule are the person’s age, the kinds of diseases that are found in the country you will visit, the vaccine strains, a new vaccine dose and the traveler’s history of disease and current health. The doctor chooses the vaccines that the person should take before travelling. Many people travel without taking the vaccines. Those people are more susceptible to the diseases than other people have already lived in their home country due to the environmental changing. All viral diseases are dangerous because we can’t treat them. Some viral diseases have a harmful effect, such as Hepatitis B and C. Taking vaccines against the viral diseases protect our bodies from infections. That is best for everyone needs to travel to enjoy his trip.
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