Avoiding Travel Health Hazards

Travel is the transfer of individuals between various distant geographic locations. Travel can either be one way, round trip or multi-point, with luggage or no luggage. The purpose of travel is to visit or attend a place for a specific or specified purpose. A person might want to travel to see a place of interest, to meet someone, to teach a class, to do some research etc.

International travel is facilitated by air, land and sea. There are four types of international travel. One is referred to as the domestic travel of travelers who may be from the United States or any other country. The other three are known as international visitors, passengers of private aircraft and commercial air travelers.

To help travelers get the best travel deals possible, it is good practice to monitor any news or travel announcements that come by from overseas sources. This will help one to stay abreast of any new or updated travel information that could affect one’s travel plans. One also need to check with the Department of State which provides necessary information on all the consular issues that one would need to be aware of when traveling abroad. The Department of State has prepared a webpage titled “International Travel Restrictions” which provides all the necessary visa requirements, required vaccinations and all other general information about all the travel restrictions that one could face when visiting other countries.

In July of 2021, there was a measles outbreak. This brought an outbreak of very contagious diseases including mumps, rubella, hepatitis B and measles. It was later determined that the outbreak was brought on by unvaccinated foreign tourists that had come to the states. The Department of Health released a travel advisory for all citizens of the United States after a diagnosis of measles was confirmed in July. This was the first case of a measles outbreak since measles was declared a disease in September.

The Department of State has now revised their travel advice for all citizens of the United States to advise them to avoid all non-essential travel to all nations during the month of July and to seek treatment if necessary. The revised travel advice also advises international travelers to be cautious during their layovers in Hawaii. Anyone with a negative test result will have to wait a minimum of ten days before being able to enter the state. Those who have had positive results or who test positive for another infectious disease are not allowed to enter the state.

The Department of Health also reminds all international travelers to make sure that they have received two doses of routine vaccinations upon arrival in the United States. Anyone traveling to any country should check with their health provider to determine which vaccinations they are required to have before arrival. These vaccinations include diphtheria, rabies, p Hepatitis A, hepatitis B, mumps and the rotavirus. If you are traveling abroad and become sick or have a pre-existing medical condition, you should contact your doctor before setting off to avoid an unnecessary interruption of your travel.