travel vaccinations /Vaccinations for international travelers

Vaccinations for international travelers


The topics in this section are edited by: Directorate General of Health Prevention

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Web editing: Cinzia Confalone
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Before leaving for an international trip it is good practice to check that you are up to date with the vaccinations provided for by the national program. Depending on the destination and type of trip, the period of stay and the personal health conditions, it is also recommended to carry out vaccines against specific diseases (cholera, Japanese encephalitis, tick-borne encephalitis, hepatitis A, yellow fever, typhoid fever , meningococcal meningitis, poliomyelitis and rabies).

Anticolerica
Indications: since the risk for most international travelers is low (due to the adoption of correct hygiene rules and due precautions to avoid consuming contaminated food or drinks) vaccination against cholera is recommended only for travelers to risk: workers or health workers who go to areas affected by disasters in endemic areas and in outbreak areas.

Vaccine: whole cells killed by V. cholerae 01 in combination with a recombinant subunit B of cholera toxin (WC / rBS) administered orally in two doses at 7-40 days of each other.

Japanese anti-encephalitis
Indications: recommended for travelers who travel to Asia for at least one month during the rainy season or travelers who stay in endemic areas for less than one month but carry out activities at risk, such as trekking, camping, fishing and activities with a prolonged outdoor exposure or which remain in rural areas, especially during irrigation of agricultural land.

Vaccine: inactivated virus (SA14-14-2 strain) administered intramuscularly in two doses at 4 weeks of one another.

Anti-hepatitis A
Indications: recommended for all non-immune travelers who go to countries or areas at risk especially for stays in places without adequate sewage and with low sanitation levels (the infection is particularly widespread in Africa, Asia, Basin countries of the Mediterranean, Middle East, Central and South America).Vaccine: killed virus administered intramuscularly in two doses at 6 months of each other.

Anti-hepatitis B
Indications: recommended for all unvaccinated travelers who go to countries or areas at risk (the infection is particularly widespread in Africa and Asia).

Vaccine: containing surface antigen of hepatitis B virus, produced by recombinant DNA technology on yeast cells, administered intramuscularly in three doses at 0, 1, 6 months from each other.

Anti-yellow fever
Indications: recommended to all travelers traveling to the countries of central Africa, western and eastern and South America where the disease is endemic. In some countries * there is an obligation, dictated by the International Health Regulations, to request a valid vaccination certificate for yellow fever (even for airport transit) *.

Vaccine: live attenuated virus administered subcutaneously or intramuscularly in a single dose.

Anti-typhoid fever
Indications: recommended for travelers who go to endemic areas, especially when their stay in these areas is more than a month or when they travel to India or in areas with antibiotic-resistant Salmonella typhi strains (Vietnam, Tajikistan).

Vaccine: available in two types:

Live attenuated vaccine administered orally in three doses every other day
Capsular polysaccharide vaccine (Vi antigen) administered intramuscularly in a single dose.
Anti-meningococcus (A, C, W135 and Y)
Indications: recommended for all travelers who travel to Sub-Saharan belt countries, especially those who stay for long periods in close contact with the local population, or in areas with ongoing epidemics. In addition, vaccination is mandatory for all travelers who go on a pilgrimage to Mecca (as required by Saudi Arabia).

Vaccine: two types of vaccine available:

Polysaccharide vaccine A, C, W135 and Y purified bacterial capsules administered subcutaneously in a single dose
Conjugate vaccine against A, C, W135 and Y administered intramuscularly in a single dose.
Tick ​​anti-encephalitis
Indications: recommended for high-risk travelers (who live or stay in rural or forest areas up to altitudes of about 1400 meters such as farmers, hikers, campers etc.) who go to endemic areas (currently the countries considered to be at greatest risk, based on the incidence of clinical cases, it is the Baltic States, Slovenia and Russia).

Vaccine: inactivated virus (Neudofl strain) administered intramuscularly in three doses (4-12 weeks between the first and second and 9-12 months between the second and third).

Anti-polio
Indications: recommended to international travelers who expect a long stay (4 weeks or more) in areas affected by the circulation of poliovirus (Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nigeria, Syria). Travelers must:be in possession of a certificate of vaccination against polio, drawn up on the model of an international certificate
to carry out a booster vaccination dose in the period between 4 weeks and 12 months prior to travel
Vaccine: inactivated virus administered intramuscularly.

rabies
Indications: recommended for all travelers heading to endemic areas of Asia, Africa and Latin America presenting a significant and foreseeable risk of exposure to rabies (travelers involved in activities that could bring them into direct contact with dogs, bats and wild animals).

Vaccine: inactivated virus prepared on cell cultures or egg embryo administered intramuscularly (or intradermally) in three doses: 7 days between the first and second dose and 21-28 days between the second and third.



* Countries that require a valid vaccination certificate for yellow fever to be sent by travelers over 1 year of age: Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, French Guiana, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Central African Republic, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Sierra Leone, Togo.