Travel Medicine
Medical Center
Pharmacy Services - Travel Clinic
Travel Medicine at the UVM Health Network
Travel medicine specialists play an important role in keeping you healthy and safe while traveling abroad. Making an appointment with a travel clinic can help prevent minor illnesses as well as major, potentially life-threatening infections.
The Travel Medicine Program at The University of Vermont Health Network provides a range of services related to international travel. We offer pre-travel counseling, vaccinations, medications to lower the risk of infection and post-travel treatments as needed. Our experts review your medical history and travel details and offer personalized guidance to help lower your health risks.
Our specialty trained travel medicine experts offer:
- Convenient care: We pride ourselves on short wait times, so you get the care you need when you need it.
- Travel medicine for your whole family: Our pediatric infectious disease physicians provide travel counseling for children, so your whole family can stay safe. These experts are some of the only pediatric-trained infectious disease specialists in Vermont and northern New York.
- Established expertise: As part of a health system anchored by an academic medical center, our travel specialists are active researchers and educators, many of whom are training the next generation of physicians.
Conditions We Treat
Our team provides preventive medicines, vaccines and treatment for infections you may be at risk of contracting while traveling abroad. We provide the full array of travel medicine services and are one of the only clinics in the region offering the yellow fever vaccine.
We work with you to understand any health concerns about the regions you’ll be visiting. You may receive counseling or preventive treatment for diseases such as:
- Hepatitis: A virus that causes liver inflammation, often spreading through contaminated water or food
- Malaria: A serious disease caused by a parasite that infects mosquitoes. Depending on your destination, you may need to take antimalarial medications before, during and after your trip.
- Tuberculosis: A potentially serious bacterial infection that primarily affects the lungs
- Traveler’s diarrhea, loose stools and stomach cramps: Often caused by eating or drinking contaminated food or water
- Typhoid fever: A bacterial disease characterized by a high fever, headache and digestive issues, typically spread through contaminated food or water
- Yellow fever: A viral infection spread through a specific type of mosquito often found in areas of South America or Africa
- Cholera: A bacterial disease usually spread through contaminated water that causes severe diarrhea and dehydration
- Polio: A rare viral infection spread through contact with an infected person or contaminated food or water and can lead to life-threatening paralysis
- Japanese encephalitis: A virus spread to people through the bite of an infected mosquito than can cause serious brain swelling, headache, fever, and disorientation
- Rabies: A virus spread to people from the saliva of infected animals that can be fatal
- Adult tick-borne encephalitis: A viral infection spread through infected ticks than can cause fever, aches, headache, nausea, vomiting, and severe symptoms such as swelling of the brain and spinal cord
What to Expect at Your Travel Consultation
We recommend scheduling your appointment with the travel medicine clinic at least four to six weeks before your trip. Many vaccines and medicines require several weeks to become fully effective. Scheduling your appointment early allows us to offer you treatments that lower your risk of health complications with plenty of time before your departure. There is a $55 fee for a travel consultation.
When you arrive for your travel consultation, be prepared to tell your provider what countries you are visiting and for how long. You’ll also need to share information related to your health history, including your:
- Current medications
- History of allergic reactions to medicines or vaccines
- Immunizations
Your provider will review your medical information and give you personalized guidance to reduce your risk of infection. You may need to take preventive medication or get certain vaccines before traveling.
Prior to your appointment patients will receive a pre-consult phone call from one of our staff members who will gather health, insurance, and trip information to ensure the visit goes smoothly and is successful. We will attempt to bill vaccines and medications to your prescription insurance. Coverage and prices vary widely depending on your insurance provider. You may reach out to your prescription insurance company in advance to inquire about costs for travel vaccines.