Geelong Health Clinic: Travel Advice & Vaccinations

Our Geelong and Grovedale medical doctors offer travel advice and vaccinations to help people enjoy safe travel and return home healthy.

Myers Street Family Medical Practice and the Cottage Medical Centre Grovedale has an many onsite travel health and medicine GP. Majority of vaccines are also stored onsite, saving you a trip to the pharmacy with a prescription. We also have a special license to administer Yellow Fever vaccines.

Are you thinking of travelling to South East Asia, Vietnam, Bali, PNG or doing the famous Kokoda Trek? We specialise in travel vaccines to help protect you during your travels….we are not limited just the above, if you are thinking of America, Africa and other locations all around this wonderful planet we can help prepare you for your trip!

The Cottage Medical Centre also offers travel advice and vaccinations.

Our onsite vaccines cover you against:

• Chicken pox
• Cholera (oral- not vaccine)
• Diphtheria, Tetanus, Pertussis combination
• Diphtheria, Tetanus, Pertussis, Polio
• Hepatitis A
• Hepatitis A Paediatric
• Hepatitis B
• Hepatitis B Paediatric
• Hepatitis A and Hepatitis B combination
• Hepatitis A and Hepatitis B Paediatric combination
• Human Papillomavirus
• Influenza
• Japanese Encephalitis (not always in stock)
• Measles, Mumps, Rubella combination
• Meningococcal ACWY
• Meningococcal C
• Polio
• Pneumonia
• Rabies
• Typhoid
• Typhoid and Hepatitis A
• Typhoid (oral, not vaccine)
• Yellow Fever (Myers St only)

Please note: Some products combine different vaccines in the one injection as well as being offered by themselves.

Yellow Fever vaccinations

If you are travelling to Africa or South and Central America, you may need the Yellow Fever vaccination on top of other travel vaccines.

You should not have yellow fever vaccine if:

• You are allergic to eggs
• You have impaired immunity due to either disease or medical treatment
• You are taking high-dose oral steroid medication
• You are having chemotherapy or radiotherapy which suppresses your immune system
• You have thymus disorder, including myasthenia gravis, thymoma, thymectomy or DiGeorge syndrome.
• You are aged under nine months
• You are pregnant
• You have had anaphylaxis (severe allergic reaction) to a previous dose of yellow fever vaccine

About Yellow Fever disease

Yellow Fever is a serious disease which occurs in tropical regions of Africa and Central and South America. It is transmitted by mosquitoes and can be fatal.

The incubation period is generally three to six days, but may be longer. Death usually occurs seven to 10 days after the onset of the illness. The case-fatality rate varies widely, but can be as high as 20 per cent in local populations. It is estimated that every year, there are 200,000 cases of Yellow Fever worldwide resulting in 30,000 deaths.

You need Yellow Fever vaccination if you are travelling to:

• Africa: Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Cote d’Iviore, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra, Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda.

• South and Central America: Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Panama, Sao Tome and Principe, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Venezeula.

Yellow Fever Certificate Of Vaccination

Vaccination is required before visiting parts of Africa and South America considered to be endemic zones. This is to stop the disease from spreading into other countries and to protect the travelers themselves. Under the World Health Organisations International Health Regulations, travelers to these zones must be vaccinated and carry a valid International Certificate Of Vaccination against Yellow Fever, which is only available through specially approved centres and/or providers. The vaccine must be administered at least 10 days before entry into the endemic zone, and the Certificate remains valid for 10 years.

Contact our Geelong vaccination medical doctor for more information on your travel health needs. Our services include skin checks and workplace health care.