Preventative Travel Vaccinations and Medications in Cairns

Hepatitis A is a viral infection of the liver. Poor personal hygiene, an unsanitary environment and intimate contact are all factors that can transmit the virus, which is shed in faeces of infected persons.

Japanese encephalitis is a viral disease found in Asia and some parts of the western Pacific. It is spread by mosquitoes from infected animals (usually pigs and wading birds) to humans. 

Since the mosquito that carries the virus breeds in flooded rice fields and pools of water, most human infections occur in rural, agricultural areas (although occasional cases have been reported from urban locations).

Rabies is a viral infection of the central nervous system. Rabies virus is contained in the saliva and certain body materials (brain tissue or cerebrospinal fluid, for example) of rabid animals and humans.

The most common mode of rabies transmission is by bites from rabid animals. A bite is any penetration of the skin by teeth. Bites to the face and hands carry especially high risks.

Yellow fever is a viral disease that is transmitted to humans by mosquitoes. This disease occurs in many countries in Africa and South America and it is believed that the incidence of yellow fever is greatly under reported among local populations.

Typhoid is a bacterial infection of the digestive tract caused by Salmonella typhi. It is spread through food and water contaminated with faecal matter from an infected human carrier. Typhoid is often transmitted by person-to-person contact, especially through food handlers.

Meningococcal disease is a potentially fatal bacterial infection which enters the body through the upper respiratory tract. It attacks the covering of the brain and spinal cord and creates symptoms of fever, nausea, vomiting, headache, convulsions and coma.

Meningococcal infection is common in poor, overcrowded areas. Epidemics occur in Africa with the highest incidence from December to June. Prevention is through adequate pre-travel vaccination.

Polio is a highly infectious virus spread by the faecal-oral route when a person ingests water or food contaminated with the virus. Polio continues to occur in developing countries in Africa, Indian sub-continent and to a lesser extent in Indonesia and the Arabian Peninsula. 

Prevention is through completion of the routine childhood vaccination and an adult booster prior to travel to at-risk countries. Strict food and water hygiene are recommended.

Cholera is a bacterial disease which offsets severely dehydrating diarrhoea. It is caused by the consumption of contaminated water, milk or food, usually due to impure water supplies and unsanitary disposal of excrement. 

Enterotoxin E.coli bacterial infection (ETEC) is the most common cause of traveller’s diarrhoea. It is preventable with good personal food and water hygiene and the oral cholera vaccination.

We also stock specialised items for travelling such as malaria tablets, traveller's diarrhoea kits, malaria test kits, mosquito nets, mosquito tents, Permethrin packs, syringe kits, water purifier tablets, first aid kits and insect repellent.