Getting Ready: Immunizations

Preparations for an overseas mission effort can take months of advance planning in some areas, and that can include taking preventive measures to safeguard your health. There are also precautions to keep in mind once you are overseas.

The first step should be a visit to a 'travel clinic,' one that specializes in preparing you for overseas travel - in fact, your regular physician may refer you to such a clinic. That was the case for some our Thai Mission Team. In the Midland-Odessa. There is a travel clinic located at 1701 N. Loop 250 - the northwest corner of Loop 250 and Andrews Highway (Hwy 191) - in west Midland. The clinic is part of the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center's Department of Internal Medicine. Their phone number is (432) 683-3250.

The doctor goes over your medical history, and an examination gives him or her an indication of your current state of health. Questions about destination and time-of-year for your travel gives them additional parameters for prescribing vaccinations. In the case of our Thai Mission Team - that meant shots for Hepatitis A and Hepatitis B, Influenza (even those of us who don't normally get flu shots here, in the U.S.), and Typhoid, boosters for Polio and Tetanus (as needed), and a prescription for an anti-Malaria drug which we begin taking shortly before entering high-malaria-risk areas of northern Thailand. PLAN AHEAD - there are three doses for Hepatitis B, for example, and they are administered months apart.

Something else for which you should plan ahead, is payment. One Mission Team member reported that the TTUHSC Travel Clinic declined to bill insurance for vaccinations, even though the Texas Tech system is a 'preferred provider' on that team member's health insurance. You could pay out of your pocket, then send the receipt to your insurer - but they may pay you whatever rate the preferred provider would charge them, which might be less than than what the clinic charged you, a private individual. Call first, and plan ahead.

FOR MORE INFORMATION - You can visit www.travelvacs.us/ This site (produced by Sanofi Pasteur, Inc.) is designed to assist U.S. travelers in determining what precautions and vaccinations may be considered when traveling outside the United States. It also provides the location of your nearest travel clinic. For more information about infectious disease and prevention, you can also visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention web site at www.cdc.gov