Pre-travel consultation appointments are designed to ensure you have all the vaccinations, screening exams and tests, and health-related information you need in order to stay as healthy as possible when you travel overseas, especially to destinations where certain diseases are prevalent. Diseases contracted during travel can be quite serious and even life-threatening. A travel consultation can help make you aware of the health risks associated with the destinations that are on your itinerary as well as providing you with the resources and treatments you need in order to reduce your risks of contracting those and other diseases.
The most common causes of travel-related diseases are pathogens like bacteria, viruses, parasites or fungi in contaminated food and water. Many diseases can also be contracted from having contact – either direct or indirect – with infected people or animals, or when normal hygiene practices such as washing your hands after toileting are compromised by a lack of clean water.
No, anyone who plans to travel to an area where certain health risks are present should have a pre-travel consultation to learn about available vaccines and receive information to help them prevent becoming ill. That includes students who plan to study overseas as well as those who plan to relocate for work or to visit family members.
Because some vaccines can take a few weeks to become fully effective, ideally you should schedule your consultation about a month in advance of travel. However, even if you plan to travel much sooner than that, you should still schedule a pre-travel consultation to ensure you're as prepared as possible prior to traveling.
We accept HMO, PPO, Medicare, and other major forms of insurance. Please call the office for more information.