Jet lag and a little gastrointestinal distress may be the only health issues facing most business travelers, but gap year travel can include remote villages where malaria, yellow fever and other serious illnesses are rampant. Depending on where he's headed, your child may need immunizations or other pharmaceutical assistance to protect him against serious health complications. Here's just a sampling:
- Yellow Fever: Travelers to Sub-Saharan Africa and South America's tropical regions may need a single-dose vaccine for Yellow Fever. Transmitted by mosquitoes, this viral disease can range from flu-like symptoms to potentially fatal hemorrhagic fever. Students traveling to Angola, for example, Sierra Leone or Bolivia must provide proof of vaccination to even enter the country, but the CDC also urges vaccination – a single shot administered two weeks before travel - for travelers bound for areas of Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador and the Amazon basin.
- Malaria:Borne by infected mosquitoes, this serious, widespread disease poses a threat to travelers headed for nearly 100 countries in Africa, South America, Central America, southern Asia and the South Pacific. Chloroquine and three other, similar prophylactic medications can protect travelers from the flu-like symptoms and potentially deadly disease. Be aware that there are several different types of malaria found in various locations and they have different patterns of resistance to the available anti-malarial medications used for prevention and treatment. So, it is very important that your child's doctor check with the latest CDC advice about this before prescribing a preventive medication.
Ironically, your child's first encounter with malarial issues may be at the campus blood drive. Although resort areas of Mexico are unaffected by malaria, last summer's Yucatan jaunt - as well as any Central American community service trek in the last year - may be enough to render your child ineligible to participate in university blood drives. Malaria can be passed via blood transfusion and blood banks are unwilling to take chances on someone who might be carrying an illness that affects 40% of the earth's population.
- Hepatitis A: Most schoolchildren today have had their Hepatitis A and B vaccines, but older 20-somethings will want to double check their immunization records to make sure they received these vaccines before they travel in certain parts of the world. Hepatitis A is a viral infection of the liver, transmitted through food, water or from person to person. Travelers to Africa, Central and South America and India should get a single-shot vaccine four or more weeks before their trip, and a booster six to 12 months later. (It's entirely possible to contract Hepatitis A in the U.S., too, where unhygienic food preparation has been blamed for outbreaks.)
- Hepatitis B: Hep A’s virulent cousin is transmitted through blood, body fluids and needles, and can cause chronic disease, extensive liver damage and liver cancer. Travelers to Africa, India, the Middle East, the South Pacific and Southeast Asia will likely need this vaccine, a three-dose series given over six months. Allow four weeks between the first and second doses, and at least eight weeks between the second and third shots.
- Tetanus: Tetanus booster shots are a part of every child's litany of immunizations, but tetanus is a serious global health issue that can afflict anyone, anywhere. The disease is caused by a neurotoxin produced by bacteria that grow in open scrapes or wounds. It leads to severe muscle spasms and respiratory failure, and has a 10-20% death rate, even with today's intensive care. Booster shots generally deliver protection for 10 years, so your child is due for another one around age 20.
Photo used with permission from Brian Hoskins, Stock.Xchng Photos
