Passage to Australia and New Zealand

Make sure you and the others, including kids who may also be traveling, have taken routine vaccinations. Routine vaccinations is a collective term for common vaccines given to protect people of all ages, the world over, against diseases such as polio, measles, diphtheria, tetanus, chicken-pox, influenza, etc. These vaccines are more commonly referred to by their abbreviations such as –

• OPV (oral polio vaccine),
• MMR (measles, mumps, rubella)
• DPT (diphtheria/pertussis/tetanus), etc.

Check the listing of routine vaccines with your travel health expert; it will help you decide which ones you need to take.

Other recommended vaccines are -

Hepatitis B, especially for those who are likely to

• Visit areas where the infection is prevalent
• Have intimate contact with the locals
• Be exposed to blood and/or other body fluids

Rabies, strongly recommended for visiting animal workers who will be in contact with dogs, cats, etc. and others such as cave explorers who may have contact with bats.

Japanese encephalitis is advised for those traveling to Torres Strait and far northern Australia, where this disease is common.