Preparations for World Cup

A lot of people will be in the final stages for their trip to go to the World Cup in Brazil. Along with the tickets, hotels packing and so forth, it is easy to forget that there are other essential bits to sort out prior to travelling. Most notably you need to ensure that all your travel vaccinations are up to date.

The most important vaccination for Brazil is for Yellow Fever.
Yellow Fever is a potentially fatal viral infection spread by mosquitoes. Yellow fever vaccination is done for 2 reasons. Either to prevent international spread of the disease or to protect individual travellers from getting the disease. Although Brazil has no specific legal requirement to get vaccinated against Yellow Fever, as of April 2014 the WHO does recommend routine vaccination for people travelling to Brazil, if you are planning to travel outside of Rio. This includes trips to Iguazo falls. It is important to check with a doctor as to whether you will need vaccination as this needs to be done at least 10 days before you arrive.

Malaria: If you are planning a trip to the Amazon, you will also need antimalarials so again it would be important to check with your doctor as to whether you will need a prescription for these.

Hepatitis A: This viral illness causes some pretty nasty symptoms. It can be spread through sexual contact and unhygienic food preparation. It affects the liver and can cause jaundice, nausea, vomiting and liver complications. The advice is to get vaccinated against Hepatitis A. If you have been previously vaccinated against Hep A, but only had one injection, protection would only last for 3 years, so a booster is recommended

Other vaccines that are sometimes recommended depending on the length of your trip and whether you will be travelling rurally and or going for an extended period of time is typhoid, diphtheria, tetanus and Hepatitis B.

As a general rule when travelling, it is worth taking precautions against travellers diarrhoea and ensuring that you only drink water from safe sources, such as bottled water and making sure that food you eat is properly prepared and hot when served
It is important to have sun protection and to be aware of your surroundings to ensure personal safety

And lastly, remember that sexually transmitted diseases , in particular HIV, is more prevalent in other countries. Always use a condom when having sex and if you think that you might have been exposed to an STI see a doctor as soon as possible.

Be safe and have great time!