Travel Vaccinations & Health Consultations

Travel Vaccinations & Health Consultations

Planning your next trip? Our pharmacists provide personalised, evidence-based travel health consultations — so you can travel with confidence.

📅 Book a Travel Health Consultation

Book online — available at Blackshaws Road Pharmacy, Melbourne

Why See a Pharmacist Before You Travel?

Travelling abroad can expose you to infectious diseases that are uncommon in Australia. A pre-travel health consultation with one of our trained pharmacists helps identify the risks specific to your destination, health history, and planned activities — and ensures you leave with the right vaccinations, medications, and advice.

Ideally, book your consultation 6–8 weeks before departure to allow time for multi-dose vaccine courses to be completed. However, even if you're departing sooner, it's still worth coming in — we can work with the time available.

🚫 Risk Assessment

We assess your health history, destination, itinerary, season, and activities to understand your personal risk profile.

💉 Vaccinations

We administer a wide range of travel vaccinations in-pharmacy and advise on any that require specialist referral.

💊 Travel Medications

Advice and prescriptions for malaria prevention, travellers' diarrhoea, altitude sickness, and more.

🧐 Personalised Advice

Food and water safety, insect bite avoidance, sun and heat protection, and what to do if you get sick overseas.

What Your Consultation Covers

Our travel health consultations (typically 30–45 minutes) are structured around four pillars:

  1. Risk Assessment — We look at this person, this trip, this time: your age, health conditions, medications, immune status, destination, activities, season, and current outbreaks.
  2. General Advice & Counselling — Safe food and water choices, insect avoidance, animal exposure, altitude illness, sexual health, injury prevention, travel insurance, and managing your existing medications overseas.
  3. Pre-Travel Vaccinations — Reviewing your vaccination history and recommending routine, travel-specific, and any required vaccines based on your itinerary.
  4. Medications — Ensuring adequate supply of regular medicines, discussing storage across time zones, and prescribing preventive or standby medicines where appropriate.

Travel Vaccines — The Three Categories

Travel vaccines fall into three groups, often called the "3 Rs":

1. Routine Vaccines

Recommended for everyone, regardless of travel. Your trip is a great opportunity to make sure you're up to date.

  • Influenza (flu)
  • Diphtheria, tetanus & pertussis (whooping cough)
  • Measles, mumps & rubella (MMR)
  • Polio
  • COVID-19
  • Hepatitis B
  • Pneumococcal disease (for eligible groups)

2. Recommended Vaccines

Based on individual risk — destination, activities, and health history. Common examples include:

  • Hepatitis A — recommended for travel to moderately to highly endemic areas
  • Typhoid — recommended for travel to endemic regions, especially when visiting friends and relatives
  • Cholera — for travellers at high risk of diarrhoeal disease
  • Japanese encephalitis — for extended rural travel in Asia and Papua New Guinea
  • Rabies — for travellers to enzootic areas with animal contact or limited access to emergency care
  • Mpox — for people at risk of exposure during travel

3. Required Vaccines

Mandated by International Health Regulations or specific countries for entry:

  • Yellow fever — required for entry into certain countries; must be given at an accredited yellow fever vaccination centre. We will refer you appropriately.
  • Meningococcal ACWY — required for Hajj and Umrah pilgrims travelling to Saudi Arabia

Common Travel Health Risks We Help You Prepare For

🧝 Travellers' Diarrhoea

Very common, especially in Southeast Asia and Africa. We advise on prevention (food & water safety, hand hygiene) and can prescribe standby antibiotics for moderate-to-severe cases.

🠐 Malaria

Malaria is endemic in parts of Africa, Asia, the Pacific, and Latin America. We advise on bite prevention and can prescribe appropriate chemoprophylaxis (e.g. atovaquone/proguanil, doxycycline).

🌳 Altitude Sickness

If your trip involves high altitudes (above 2,500 m), we can assess your risk and discuss prevention strategies including acetazolamide for eligible travellers.

✈ DVT & Long-Haul Flights

Long flights increase the risk of deep vein thrombosis. We assess your risk and advise on preventive strategies including compression stockings and leg exercises.

Who Should Book Early?

The following travellers should book as far in advance as possible — ideally 6–8 weeks before departure:

  • Those requiring multi-dose vaccine courses (e.g. hepatitis A, hepatitis B)
  • Travellers to regions requiring malaria chemoprophylaxis
  • Travellers with chronic health conditions (e.g. diabetes, heart disease, asthma)
  • Older travellers (65+ years may need medical clearance for insurance)
  • Backpackers and visitors to remote or rural areas
  • Those visiting friends and relatives in developing countries (often an underestimated risk)
⚠ When we will refer you to a doctor or specialist clinic:
  • Pregnant travellers or those planning pregnancy during travel
  • Children under 8 years requiring malaria prophylaxis or travelling above 2,500 m
  • Immunocompromised travellers
  • Travellers requiring yellow fever vaccination (must be given at an accredited centre)
  • Travellers requiring malaria prophylaxis for trips longer than 8 weeks
  • Those with severe or unstable medical conditions

We will always act in your best interest and coordinate with your doctor when referral is needed.

Travel Medical Kit

We can help you prepare a medical kit tailored to your destination and health needs. Typical essentials include:

📋 Documentation
  • Immunisation record
  • Copies of prescriptions
  • Pharmacist/doctor letter for medications
  • Travel insurance details
💊 Medications
  • Oral rehydration salts
  • Loperamide (for diarrhoea)
  • Paracetamol
  • Motion sickness tablets
  • Antihistamines
  • Standby antibiotics (if prescribed)
  • Antimalarials (if prescribed)
🩹 First Aid & Prevention
  • Bandaids and wound dressings
  • Thermometer
  • Insect repellent (DEET ≥20%)
  • Sunscreen (SPF 30+)
  • Hand sanitiser
  • Face masks
  • Water purification tablets

Note: If you carry prescription medications overseas, check restrictions with the destination country's embassy. Certain medicines (e.g. codeine, some sleep aids, ADHD medications) are controlled or prohibited in some countries. We can provide a travel letter to support your journey.

Ready to Travel with Confidence?

Book a Travel Health Consultation with one of our pharmacists. We'll create a personalised travel health plan for you — vaccinations, medications, and expert advice for wherever you're headed.

📅 Book Your Consultation Online

Further Resources

For destination-specific information and the latest travel health alerts, we recommend these authoritative resources:

  • 🇦🇺 Australian Immunisation Handbook
    Australia's definitive evidence-based vaccination guide, maintained by the Australian Government Department of Health.
  • 🇦🇺 Smartraveller
    The Australian Government's official travel advisory service — country-by-country safety and health information, plus subscriber alerts for up-to-date warnings.
  • 🇬🇧 Travel Health Pro (UK — NaTHNaC)
    The UK National Travel Health Network and Centre's comprehensive destination-by-destination travel health advice and outbreak alerts.
  • 🇺🇸 Travelers' Health (US — CDC)
    The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention travel health portal — destination profiles, outbreaks, the CDC Yellow Book, and vaccine recommendations.

Disclaimer: This information is general in nature and does not replace a personalised consultation. Travel health recommendations change frequently as disease outbreaks and country entry requirements evolve. Always seek advice specific to your own health and itinerary. Some vaccines and medications can only be administered or prescribed following an individual clinical assessment.