Taking Your Best Shots...
Destinations and Vaccinations

• Hepatitis A: Viral infection of the liver. Transmitted through contaminated food or water.
  High risk areas, Central and South America.
  
  
• Hepatitis B: Exposure through bodily fluids and needles. Required for all children born in Colorado.
  High risk areas, Africa, Southeast Asia, Middle East. A must for Medical professionals.
  
  
• Twinrix: Combination Hep A and Hep B. Vaccine can be accelerated for short notice travelers..
  
  
• Typhoid: Spread through contaminated food and water.
  Risk is virtually all tropical regions.
  
  
• Tetanus / Diphtheria / Pertussis: Also known as “Lockjaw”. Any break in the skin is susceptible. Pertussis, also known as “Whooping Cough”.
  On the rise in the U.S.
  
  
• Flu Vaccine: Seasonal protection against the flu and now contains H1N1 protection.
  
  
• Pneumonia:Every five years for those at risk ie. (compromised immune system, asthma, previous pneumonia).
  Everybody over 65 should get this.
  
  
• Polio: Polio is making a resurgence in particularly poor/crowded areas.
  High risk is now India, Pakistan, parts of Africa. You need a booster even if you were vaccinated as a child.

• PPD: A test for Tubercluosis exposure. A must for Medical professionals or prolonged international trips of 2-3 months.
  
  
• Meningitis: Bacterial, is spread by coughing, kissing closely confined areas. College kids in Dormitory settings should get this.
  
  
• Measles, Mumps, Rubella: Anyone over 18 or those individuals born after 1956.
  You should get this vaccine unless you can prove you have had the diseases.
  
  
• Yellow Fever: Carried by mosquito’s, attacks the liver.
  Is required for parts of Africa, Panama and parts of South America (Amazon).
  
  
• Chicken Pox: Highly contagious viral infection spread by unvaccinated individuals.
  
  
• Shingles: The same virus that causes Chicken Pox.
  Zostavax cannot cure Shingles but can help prevent it.
  
  
• Rabies: Viral infection spread by infected animal bite, saliva or scratch. Deadly.
  
  
• Japanese Encephalitis: Transmitted by mosquito’s with JE. Mosquito’s become infected by feeding on infected pigs and wild birds, typically in a rice-paddy setting.