Healthy Journey

By Laura Koss-Feder

Flu season may be long over in most parts of the U.S., but you still might need a flu shot if you're traveling abroad this summer. And that's just one of a growing battery of shots that older travelers need to think about these days. With the emergence of SARS and prevalence of other infectious diseases like pneumonia and typhoid fever, it pays to chat with your doctor about immunization before you board your next flight. "We're looking at vaccines in a whole new way, to be able to help travelers as much as we can in whatever destination they are going to," says Dr. Bradley Connor, president of the International Society of Travel Medicine and medical director of the New York Center for Travel and Tropical Medicine in Manhattan.

For the adventurous set--many of whom are baby boomers--inoculations are a vital concern. "Whether it's a safari in Botswana or sightseeing in Laos, travelers are looking for new, exotic destinations," says Judy Peil, owner of a St. Louis, Mo., travel agency.

The upshot is that doctors and researchers are figuring out better ways to protect travelers. For instance, over the past two years, outbreaks of pneumonia in less developed parts of the world have made it essential for travelers 50 and older to be vaccinated against the disease. (In the past, the vaccination had been largely recommended only for those over 65, says Connor.) They should also be immunized against hepatitis A and B, which can now be done in a combination vaccine that is administered in three doses, rather than the five injections required if the vaccines are given separately. For those visiting locales where malaria is a concern, the latest antimalarial treatments have fewer annoying side effects like nightmares, nausea, sun sensitivity and headache, says Dr. Carol Singer, chief of the infectious diseases division and director of the travel immunization center at Long Island Jewish Medical Center in New Hyde Park, N.Y.

Connor anticipates that within the next two to three years, a medical self-diagnosis kit, similar to a home pregnancy test, will be available to travelers. Along with the kit might come medication that one can take if a blood or urine test comes up positive for such diseases as malaria. Products like this are already in use in Germany and parts of Asia.

Some of the concern arises from diseases that pose just as big a threat here at home. And that brings us back to influenza, which can be found all over the world in all seasons, and can be deadly for older travelers, in particular. Nurse Patricia Davenport, a travel medicine specialist at Harris Methodist HEB Hospital in Bedford, Texas, recommends that older travelers make sure they get a flu shot every year.

For those heading to developing nations, typhoid fever and cholera--both of which, like hepatitis A, are spread via contaminated food and water--also are concerns. Since the typhoid vaccine is not entirely effective, and the one for cholera is no longer offered in the U.S., people traveling to more remote locations are often told to eat only cooked foods and drink bottled water, Davenport notes.

As long as you begin your shots at least six weeks before your trip and consult a doctor about how to schedule them, you shouldn't have to worry about adverse interactions. "Armed with the proper inoculations, you can travel almost anywhere and come home healthy," Davenport says.