Even before a holiday at Lake Neusiedl, one should not forget to have the vaccination status checked by a doctor, explain infectiologists and tropical medicine specialists. This applies all the more to trips to America, Asia and Africa. While diphtheria, tetanus and FSME vaccination protection (“tick vaccination”) is important in this country, dangerous yellow fever, Japanese encephalitis and rabies diseases can be prevented elsewhere.
- diphtheria, polio, tetanus: “The standard protection includes the quadruple vaccination against diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough and polio,” says Hermann Laferl, specialist in tropical medicine at the Klinik Favoriten in Vienna: Although diphtheria and tetanus are rare, they have a high mortality rate in the event of an illness, namely “in the double-digit percentage range”. Due to a lack of vaccination protection, such diseases are on the rise again.
- yellow fever: When traveling long-distance, you should normally find out about the necessary vaccinations six to eight weeks in advance, says Ursula Hollenstein, a specialist in tropical medicine in Vienna. Yellow fever vaccinations would be advisable, for example, when traveling to the risk areas of Africa (south of the Sahara to Angola) and South America.
- typhus would in turn be present in countries with sometimes poor living conditions. High-risk areas include India, Pakistan, Africa and Indonesia. The disease is transmitted by smear infections, especially with polluted water. A single vaccination up to ten days before departure protects against this, said Ursula Hollenstein.
Source: Nachrichten
