Part 1 - Winter Getaways
The Gambia? Senegal? How about South Africa or maybe India? There’s a seemingly endless array of choices for a winter getaway, most offering sun and sea at this particularly bleak and chilly time of year with spring still three months off.
A growing trend in the travel industry for the last few years has been last-minute bookings – sometimes as little as a week before departure date. While consumers usually wind up with getting great deals on last-minute trips, especially all-inclusive packages, this doesn’t leave a lot of time to prepare for your travel health.
As a Clinic Assistant at Nomad, I’ve lost count of the number of times I have heard ‘but my travel agent didn’t tell me I needed any vaccinations for that country!’ this comment is usually closely followed by: ‘and my doctor’s surgery can’t fit me in!’
Typically at this time of year the doctor’s surgery is usually full-up with appointments for flu, respiratory infections and the like – in other words, they are more geared for dealing with sick patients during this period and understandably find it hard to accommodate the last minute traveller.
So, the responsibility for checking what vaccinations and/or anti malarials are needed for a particular destination ultimately rests with you, the traveller. If you’ve done all your research on costs, flight times and availability, etc., and come up with the perfect destination, the very next thing to do is look up what might be required in the way of vaccinations for that destination. Some good websites to try for this are www.nathnac.org, www.fitfortravel.scot.nhs.uk and of course, www.nomadtravel.co.uk.
‘But we’re only going to be staying at a hotel by the seaside for a week, do we really need a Yellow Fever vaccination?’ The best answer to this is, if you are headed for Sub Saharan Africa, yes. It might be a short flight and a proper resort area, but don’t lose sight of the fact that you are still going to the slightly wild and untamed African continent. Yellow Fever is a virus which has no cure and is sometimes fatal. Unlike a malarial mosquito which is usually active at night and only bites humans, the mosquitoes responsible for transmission of the YF virus are active during the day and are active in cities as well as the more rural environment.
There’s also the question of where you stand with your travel insurance medical coverage should something go wrong and you haven’t received the recommended vaccinations for that country. Do you really want to take such a chance for the sake of a week’s holiday?
At Nomad’s travel clinics we are very experienced in dealing with last minute travel health needs, and regularly see both holiday makers and business travellers who have very little time to prepare. Yes, it is definitely worth it!
Nomad Bishop’s Stortford
The family of a Manuden man who suffered a fatal heart attack while driving raised more than £20,000 for the Herts air ambulance to mark the first anniversary of his death.
TREE surgeon Trevor Shaw, from Bishop's Stortford, is gearing up for one of the toughest bike rides in the UK in memory of his older brother.
TWO trail-toughened cyclists from the Observer area hit the road with two of the biggest names in sport to raise money for charity.
Have you been thinking of taking a walking holiday in Western Europe this spring?
A TEAM of 11 cyclists - including six from the Observer patch - will be pedalling 500 miles from England to Holland in five days in aid of Isabel Hospice.
Events aimed at breaking down the last great taboo are being organised by NHS West Essex.
Missed appointments at the main hospital serving the Observer area last year cost the NHS an estimated £1.6million.