Traveling Through India? Get Your Vaccinations!

Back in 1632, Emperor Shah Jahan began construction for his late wife’s mausoleum in Agra, India. Almost four centuries later, the Taj Mahal stands as one of the world’s most romantic acts and greatest monuments in history.

          Created and domed with precious white marble, the building employed thousands of artisans and craftsmen, and took about a year to complete. With its vaulted archways, arched balconies, elegant wall calligraphy, incised painting, finial floor tiling, graceful gardens and so on, the Taj Mahal is set on the checklist if you’re traveling through India.

          Don’t start packing your bags yet though.  There are a few other things on the checklist you need to get done before you even step foot in the country. Let’s start with travel vaccinations.

          For all the fun activities and amazing sights to enjoy, there are a number of illnesses and diseases you can easily contract in Southeast Asia. Among them include Whether caused by tetanus, polio, typhoid, hepatitis A, cholera, diphteria, hepatitis B, rabies, malaria, and Japanese encephalitis. While some of them you may have received at a younger age and others seem irrelevant, you don’t want to be taking chances.

          Not only will they disrupt and potentially ruin your vacation, some can cause permanent damage or even death. Whether by food contamination, insect/animal bites, or personal contact, there’s no way you want to be feverish with severe pain gripping your stomach while touring the Taj Mahal.

          If you’d rather not risk it, stop by your doctor’s to get India travel vaccination in NYC. It takes a fairly short amount of time compared to if you were suffering in India. So set off for your southeast adventure, but first, make sure you’re prepped.

          Need a doctor who work in a travel clinic in NYC? Try ours! Located at 274 Madison Ave. Suite 304, (or check out www.travelclinicny.com) I guarantee we can help make your vacation a success.

Overseas drugs often counterfeit, receive the proper travel immunization in Manhattan

During the Partnership for Safe Medicines’ Interchange Conference in 2010, Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Margaret Hamburg read an alarming statistic that “in certain parts of the world, somewhere between 30 and 50 percent of drugs to treat serious diseases are actually counterfeit.” Hamburg then emphasizes that due to limited surveillance she feels uncertain whether these shocking numbers even truly represent “the magnitude and scope of the problem,” which she believes “is growing every day.”

While Hamburg’s team claims to be making strides in protecting US citizens from imported tampered with medicines, her organizations cannot respectfully guard Americans who travel out of the FDA’s range of influence. This is certainly true for people who do not receive the proper travel immunization medications before venturing into developing countries that lack adequate regulation of transported drugs.

People especially traveling to sub-Saharan Africa put themselves at a high risk of contracting malaria, an infectious disease transmitted by mosquitos, with little assurance of receiving reliable drug therapy. According to a survey conducted by the World Health Organization in 2003 between 20 and 90 percent of antimalarial drugs that were tested in seven different African countries failed to meet quality standards. This proves troubling as every country surveyed (Kenya, Ghana, Mali, Mozambique, Gabon, Zimbabwe and Sudan) are considered areas endemic for malaria disease by the Center for Disease Control.

Reasons for this vary, but the WHO charges that changing prescription techniques, poor medical facilities and a growing criminal market all attribute to these areas distributing faulty antimalarial drugs.  As the malaria virus has mutated and become more resistant to medications over the years more physicians are combining different medicines for patients, which leaves more room for counterfeit drugs to get into the mix. Poverty in these areas also leads to underfunded laboratories, poorly trained physicians, poor drug handling and bad manufacturing practices. And as popularized in the recent “60 Minutes” nine-month investigation, there has been a recent acceleration all over the world in drug counterfeiting and cargo theft.

Fake antimalarial drugs in other countries are typically packaged to look like brand name drugs. They are ineffective usually because they contain less than the required amount of active ingredient, lack the active ingredient all together, or are cut with harmful substances. Medical facilities in poorer countries also tend to carry low quality antimalaria medication that use cheaper and not as affective ingredient alternatives. Another counterfeit technique is selling expired drugs that are repackaged with new expiration dates.

Untreated or poorly treated malaria can kill you, as it does over 800,000 people a year, according to the WHO. Nobody traveling to endemic areas should risk their health and life by depending on hospitals local to the area when they have access to more trustworthy clinics in the US.

If you are traveling soon and live in the tri-state area, visit this travel clinic in NYC to get the proper travel immunization medicines to assure you have a safe journey. You’ll be helped by a board certified doctor will years of experience in travel health. Wherever you’re going, travel medicine office nyc can provide you with all the information, health advice and needed vaccinations/medicines for you before embarking on your journey.

Visit get travel immunization in NYC office or call 212-696-5900 to learn more about protecting your health abroad.

Need to escape NYC for a while? Visit a travel immunization clinic first

New York City is like a jungle unnaturally overpopulated with primates. People hang from fire escapes howling at people walking by trying to cover their heads from dripping air conditioners and rove wads of spit. Cars move like grazing livestock, tapping the break as often as we blink. Commercial vehicles sound like elephants at stop lights and fart hot, black smoke into the face of men dipping into yellow cabs, which themselves seem like fifty different breeds of dogs bred to serve New Yorkers.  There are people everywhere dealing with constant invasion from the lesser species of rodents and insects into their homes. Our canopy consists of drying wardrobes and peeling advertisements while skyscrapers sit like mountain ranges that have been thoroughly mined within.

I sit in my living room in an old neighborhood in Brooklyn and I wonder: how many people have lived in my apartment and sat in this room dreaming of an escape?

Detox, let your pores breath for a while, and escape for a week or two after visiting a travel clinic in NYC. Pull your bathing suits down from storage and travel to Central or South America and do nothing but sunbathe and relax. Every New Yorker deserves a break from squeezing into subway cars and eating stale bagels every day. Spread out in the sand and order a drink at noon. Wake up late, read a book without people peering over your shoulder, walk outside holding nothing but sunglasses.

Now more than ever traveling is affordable and convenient. Commercial airlines offer daily flights that last no more than 15 hours nonstop, no matter where you want to go. Popular websites such as Priceline.com and Expedia.com offer discounted flights, hotels and coupons that make getting deals as easy as a clicking your mouse. It can literally take 15 minutes to book a roundtrip flight and a week stay at a resort in Rio de Janeiro. And because tourism flourishes the closer you get to the equator a large percentage of people speak English, the concierge at your hotel may even know someone from your hometown.

And by living in a tri-state area you have convenient access to travel immunization in NYC offices that will ensure you receive the proper medications and vaccines before you leave. Take advantage of pre-travel consultation from a trained travel doctor before going anywhere. Different countries, even different areas within the same country, all have unique health issues that travelers should be aware of. The best way to protect your health while abroad is by visiting a clinic that specializes in travel medicine for a consultation 4 to 6 weeks prior to leaving. Even if you’re leaving tomorrow you can still benefit from meeting with a travel health professional today to take care of any issues you may not be aware you’ll have when traveling to your destination.

Check out this travel immunization clinic next time that car alarm goes off outside your window at 5am. Just found yourself getting irritable at an older woman walking too slow ahead of you? It’s time you got out of this town for a week. If you need travel medicine buy your plane ticket, then make an appointment to meet with an experienced travel doctor who will prepare you for your holiday. Just take that train you know so well up to 42^nd street at either Bryant Park or Grand Central and walk a couple of blocks down to discuss your travel needs with their helpful staff.

It’s time for a real vacation south of the city, and I don’t mean Florida. Log onto their website or call 212-696-5900 to start preparing for your escape.

Get a typhoid vaccination in NYC so next time you travel you can actually drink the water

There are about 400 cases of typhoid found in the United States per year, which is relatively small considering that 75 percent of these cases occurred in Americans who had recently traveled outside of the United States. Further yet, a portion  of the 25 percent of domestic cases can be traced to international products consumed in this country. In August of 2010, for example, Goya and La Nuestra companies were forced to recall all of their frozen mamey pulp products after they were linked to a handful of typhoid cases reported on the West Coast. Their contaminated product, mamey pulp, is a tropical fruit grown mostly in Central and South America, meaning that the bacteria was most likely imported into this country, not formed within. So the US, as with most developed nations, manages to control typhoid pretty well.

Underdeveloped countries, some of which tend to be wonderful vacation spots, do not fare so well. According the Center for Disease control about 21.5 million people in the developing world contract typhoid fever every year. In the past decade, United States residents traveling to Latin American, Asia and Africa have experienced especially high frequencies of typhoid. If you plan on traveling to any of these areas you should avoid this sickness by getting a typhoid vaccination NYC at a certified travel clinic weeks before you take off.

For it is almost impossible to avoid a disease that manifests within the food and water of the country you visit. Tyhpoid fever spreads when humans swallow foods and water that has been contaminated with the bacterium Salmonella Typhi. These microorganisms live in the stool of infected persons, and can in more ways than you’d like to imagine make its way into your mouth.  For example food is often spoiled when handled by someone sick with the disease that works in conditions where proper hand washing procedures are not enforced. Water proves a risk because local drinking water in countries with poorly maintained sewage systems is at times polluted with Salmonella Typhi, leading to the traveler’s common motto: “Whatever you do, don’t drink the water.”

Once ingested the bacteria multiplies and spreads throughout the bloodstream, causing the body to react with fever of 103 to 104 degrees. People also tend to experience severe headaches, abdominal pains and loss of appetite. People who do not get treated with antibiotics can sustain a fever and other symptoms for months, with as many as 20 percent dying due to complications from the bacteria.

If you plan on traveling to an area where typhoid fever is common you should visit a travel center to get a typhoid vaccination to prevent infection. Make sure to make an appointment at least 3 weeks prior to departure to ensure the immunization will take affect before you land in your destination.  Also, just because you’ve received a vaccine for typhoid once before does not mean you are not due for another; the vaccine loses its potency after several years. You can check with your travel doctor to find out if you are due for another shot.

If you live in or nearby New York City, make an appointment with this travel clinic in NYC located in Midtown. Your doctor carefully considers your entire itinerary to make sure you have all the needed medications and vaccines you need. Importantly, this clinic is also affordable, and clearly lists its pricing for vaccinations on its website at TravelClinicNY.com. Check it out to conveniently compare their prices with other clinics.

Log onto oral typhoid vaccination to make an appointment or call their office at 212-696-5900. You shouldn’t have to feel nervous about drinking water and enjoying local cuisine while abroad. Get vaccinated.

Don’t forget your immunization for yellow fever before leaving NYC

Traveling to a South America soon? If so, take note that it’s about to experience its rainy season, which brings with it increased risk for mosquito borne diseases such as yellow fever. You can avoid this catastrophe by visiting a travel clinic for a yellow fever immunization nyc before journeying south. 

Yellow fever is a virus that affects human and nonhuman primates in mostly tropical parts of the world. An infected female mosquito bites the host, forcing about 1000 to 100,000 virus particles into the human bloodstream. The virus typically immediately starts replicating within the skin cells at the site of injection before spreading to nearby lymph nodes. The virus tends to favor the lymphoid cells for primary replication, and utilizes its channels and the bloodstream to infect other organs. Once in the liver and spleen very large amounts of the virus starts replicating and gets released tenfold into the bloodstream.

About three to six days after infection the virus may be transmitted to a mosquito that in turn can infect another person. There are three possible modes of transmission depending on the area where incubation occurs all the more reason to get a travel vacciantion.

Jungle (sylvatic):   Primate-insect-human
If you are journeying into a tropical forest in South America this is the most likely mode of transmission. Because yellow fever affects human and nonhuman primates, the transmission cycle in jungle areas typically moves from primate to mosquito to a human exploring the area.

Savannah (intermediate):    Human-insect-primate-insect-human
If you are traveling to Africa and more rural parts of S. America this is the most typical mode of transmission you’ll experience. The Aedes spp. mosquito that carries the virus breeds well in tree holes in these areas. And considering that humans often work and live near these jungle borders, the cycle is just as likely to start with humans as it is with monkeys.

Urban:   Human-insect-human
Cities nearby jungle and savannah areas experience this mode of transmission, where mosquitos transmit the virus from human to human. During the rainy season, local cities are considered to be at high risk for a yellow fever endemic due to this possible mode of transmission within large groups of humans.

Roughly three to six days after infection the host begins feeling symptoms from the virus. People typically suffer from fever, headache, chills backache, muscle pains and vomiting. These symptoms characterize organ dysfunction, especially in the liver and kidneys. If the illness persists for two week patients have two outcomes: rapid recovery or death. About 20 to 50 percent of people who reach this period do not survive.  

A preventive strategy is the best way to treat yellow fever, as there is currently no anti-viral medication available for it. A yellow fever immunization shot offers the highest level of protection against the disease, with nearly 100 percent effectiveness for people who receive the shot 3-4 weeks before traveling to endemic areas. 

If you are in need of a yellow fever vaccination, or any vaccine for that matter, visit this travel clinic in NYC to get all of your health needs taken care for travel. It’s fully certified to distribute the yellow fever shot, which not all doctor’s offices can claim. Your doctor is also incredibly experienced in international travel and can tell you everything you need to know for wherever you wish to go. Just easily set up an appointment by visiting their website at NYC travel clinic or calling their office at 212-696-5900.

Traveling to interesting, tropical parts of the world doesn’t have to be dangerous if you know the proper preventative health procedures. Be sure to get all the needed immunizations before taking off.

Travel Clinics in NYC Protecting Oneself Completely

International travel can be a mind-expanding literal trip into the inner workings of other cultures. When overseas you tend to stare at even the most mundane of things—such as mail boxes—with wonder. Every set of people bring their own flare. Some ornate and princely, others are rigid and proletarian; it’s truly a great way to enter into the psyche of any society or civilization. Travel has so much to offer regarding the understanding of others that it boggles the mind. Yet with all the wonder, excitement and deep intuitive mental exercise that comes with travel, there is also the faint hint of danger. That is where travel clinics come into play—and anyone travelling from the great NYC should pay one a visit before journeying off into the great unknown.

Travel clinics exist all over places like NYC for a good reason. Travel can be more than just a good time. There are responsibilities that enter into any long journey. As human beings, we need to do what it is we can to protect ourselves from all nature of foreign danger. There are the big things, like con artists out to take a stranger’s valuables. We see this even in NYC, our fair city. One most enter into these situations aware of the potential problems that may arise. You might, for instance, purchase a money belt, to keep your cash close to your body. Or you may decide to carry only traveler’s checks, that way if robbed of them you do not lose the cash value. These are all great ways to protect yourself.

Then there are the small things—and by small we refer only to size, not damage incurred. The world is filled with dangerous bacteria and viruses just waiting for fresh flesh to begin their destructive cycle. Protection must be paid to this potentially devastating occurrence. Certified travel clinics in NYC can help you gain this protection through the administering of travel inoculations. Travel clinics and the doctors who run them are up to date on all diseases that are a danger to travelers.

Before heading off on that long-awaited journey, visit a travel clinic so that the doctor can professionally peruse your travel itinerary and recommend what protection you will need in the specific areas of the world you will find yourself in. As someone from NYC, it is not outside your realm of thinking to know that all the help you can get up-front will pay off on the back-end. You do not want to search the listings for travel clinics when you get back because you caught a potentially deadly disease while supposedly having fun with your friends and family. No, protection first and foremost makes the most sense. It makes sense practically—and financially. The amount of money you will have to spend fighting off a disease that you have become infected with is way higher than receiving the inoculation in the first place. Way, way higher.

Travel clinics know what diseases need to be protected against as soon as your itinerary is presented to them. Doctors at travel clinics can give you a polio vaccine as well as vaccines for hepatitis A & B, typhoid, tetanus, meningitis, rabies, Japanese encephalitis, measles, mumps, and rubella. Some countries actually demand that you receive a yellow fever vaccination before you can even enter. Do you know which countries these are? Travel clinics do.

Travel vaccination in NYC are like bullet proof vests. They protect you from danger. Living in NYC you have tons of clinic choices to choose from. Why not begin your process by logging onto Travel Clinic in NYC. They are easily accessible by bus and train because of how close they are to Grand Central Station, and they are respected, clean and discreet. Call 1-212-696-5900 for more info or to book an appointment at your convenience. Remember protection is key!

Keep Repeating, “It’s just a pin prick. It’s just a…” Why & Where to Get a Yellow Fever Shot in NYC

Getting shot in NYC may not sound like something you’d wish for, but if your plans include an overseas journey and the shot is an inoculation for yellow fever all of a sudden it starts to sound pretty smart. It all boils down to that protection-thing again, and as anyone who has ever crossed the Atlantic or Pacific for work, holiday or vacation knows—a vaccination first could save a lot of money and misery later on.

Yellow fever still runs rampant in large areas of the world. If planning a trip to any country in Africa or to countries in Central or South America, a yellow fever shot should be administered to protect against acquiring this disease. We live isolated, in a pretty healthy part of the world—with NYC one of the best cities in the country when it comes to medical care. With all the fuss about health care these days, it’s sometimes easy to forget just how safe we are in the western world when it comes to diseases like yellow fever.

On large swaths of globe yellow fever is still a dangerous potentiality —and according to the World Health Organization—it infects almost a quarter of a million people a year. Out of this number a shocking 30,000 will die. The proper protection—via a yellow fever inoculation—can only be had at a certified travel clinic. In fact, many countries will not even allow entry until they see proof of this shot. In NYC you have many choices as to where to receive this potentially life-saving shot.

What is yellow fever and why is still dangerous in some parts of the world? Yellow fever is a serious disease caused by a virus and spread through the bite of an infected mosquito. (In NYC we have our fair share of mosquitoes but they are safe as they are not infected with the virus that causes yellow fever.) It is not possible to catch yellow fever from another person. It can only be caught if you are bitten by an infected insect. Monkeys also carry the disease and a bite from one of them can also transfer the infection, but since not too many people are being bitten by monkeys these days (even on the wildest of vacations!) we’ll stick to the mosquito mode of transmission in this article.

The “yellow” in the name yellow fever refers to the jaundice-like symptoms that affect some sufferers. Jaundice is the yellowing of the skin caused by a breakdown of liver function. Other symptoms of yellow fever include fever and flu, vomiting blood, liver, kidney, respiratory and other organ failure that can lead to death if the travel vaccination is not administered.

Throughout history yellow fever has caused some devastating epidemics resulting in catastrophic causalities. One such deadly outbreak occurred in 1802 when the disease struck French soldiers fighting in Haiti. Statistics reveal that up to half the entire French army was killed by this frightening disease. A little closer to home (but thankfully not NYC), over 5,000 people in Philadelphia and Pennsylvania were infected by yellow fever when political refugees from the Caribbean arrived and spread the virus

 Being a proud citizen of America, and NYC in particular, you can choose one of many certified travel clinics to administer your yellow fever vaccination in nyc. Log onto Travel Clinic NYC for more information on a great neighborhood facility located just blocks from Grand Central Station. Travel Clinic in NYC is run by a board-certified medical doctor whose specialty is inoculations and vaccines for all manner of travelers. Call 1-212-696-5900 to arrange an appointment today!

Searching For a Travel Clinic in NYC? What is it They Offer

The best of everything, that’s what we have here in NYC. Our fair city is also filled with people who travel the world, “cosmopolitan” they call it—it’s no longer just a drink. Before one sets off for that romantic journey across the sea, a travel clinic is of paramount importance.

The fact of the matter is that a travel clinic is as important to your overseas journey as your passport is. In fact, many countries now require proof of immunization before they will allow you across their borders. A travel clinic in New York City York will be up-to-date on the latest travel laws and will instruct you on many other travel-related issues that can keep you healthy throughout your stay in your country of choice.

The following is a brisk list of things that travel clinics specialize in. With NYC brimming with them, traveling without one is akin to traveling without a suitcase.

Complete Travel Vaccination Services

Vaccines are a form of preventative medicine given to travelers to protect them from diseases that may be present in the country that they are traveling to. Through a thoughtful analysis of the traveler’s destination, a doctor will make the professional choices needed for maximum protection. The following are some of the vaccinations that are routinely available at a travel clinic:

Yellow fever

Hepatitis A & B

Typhoid

Tetanus

Polio

Meningitis

Rabies

Japanese encephalitis

Measles

Mumps

Rubella

Depending on Where You Are Going It’s The Law

In over 100 COUNTRIES on the globe it is necessary to present a certificate proving you have received the yellow fever vaccination before they will allow you entry. A travel clinic will have this list and provide you with the necessary paperwork to assure your trip goes off without a hitch. Ten days is the average time period of immunity, meaning you must receive the vaccination ten days before you plan to arrive at your destination.

Tricks of The Trade To Assure a Healthy Trip

A travel clinic will dispense good-natured advice designed to keep you as healthy as possible as you go about your planned vacation or business trip.

Take tap water for instance. A travel clinic will make sure you are protected from possible infection by imparting specialized advice, such as:

A.    Brush your teeth with only unboiled tap water. If this is not possible, use bottled water for this purpose

B.    Be aware of ice cubes in drinks. These are usually made with tap water so order your soft drinks and cocktails without ice whenever possible.

This advice regarding water continues, in addition to specialized advice for interacting with foods and vegetables, insects and their bites, the sun and how to protect oneself from harmful effects, medication (prescriptions and local over-the-counter varieties), blood clots, motion sickness, etc. When you are overseas the world seemingly conspires to make you ill. Arm yourself with the inside secrets that only a travel clinic can impart.

If you currently reside in the NYC area and there is a trip looming on the horizon, get yourself to a professional, certified travel clinic soon. Located just two blocks from Grand Central Station is the Travel Clinic NYC. You can read about them at TravelClinicNY.com or call 1-212-696-5900 to speak to a real person and ask specific questions. Remember, when overseas safe guard your health as much as you plan on safe guarding your cash and valuables.