International vaccination centres provide personalised information and vaccination recommendations to those travelling abroad this summer

To avoid unnecessary delays and in order to enable the best possible healthcare service, these centres have set up an appointment system. Furthermore, it is highly advisable that travellers find out about the vaccinations they need well in advance as certain preventive medicines need to be administered with sufficient time prior to travel in order to be effective. In this regard, the website of this ministerial department includes a link to help people find the healthcare information they need (compulsory vaccinations, advisable vaccinations, the need or otherwise for anti-malarial chemoprophylaxis, etc.) by filling in details about the trip in question. The same link can also be used to arrange an appointment at any international vaccination centre (http://www.msssi.gob.es/sanitarios/consejos/vacExt.do).

The Ministry for Health, Social Services and Equality is also recommending that - upon your return and given that certain diseases are not immediately apparent - you consult your GP or primary healthcare service provider regarding any symptom that may be related to your recent travel.

General recommendations

The following basic recommendations should always be followed by anyone visiting a tropical country or a country with a certain degree of health risk:

Consult an international vaccination centre at least one month to six weeks prior to travel in order to receive information on the healthcare situation in the country and the preventive measures that should be taken. You should also gather information about the preventive vaccines or treatments necessary for the country to be visited (some of these need several days or even weeks to be effective, meaning they should be administered sufficiently in advance).

Visit your doctor before your travel if you are suffering from any illness or allergy, or if you are receiving a course of treatment. For those people on a course of treatment, it is advisable to have a medical report prepared and take a sufficient quantity of the required medicine divided between your suitcase and hand luggage. Travellers should be reminded to consult airport security measures in order to properly organise their luggage.

Take appropriate clothing and footwear with you, as well as a small first aid kit.

When in your country of destination, take care with the local food and drink as these are the most common cause of illness among travellers. A few tips:

• Wash your hands often to avoid infections.
• Drink bottled or treated water and avoid consuming ice that has not been made from safe water.
• Only consume packaged milk and sterilised milk-based products
• Take care with confectionery and ice creams.
• Food should be cooked and kept at the right temperature: avoid raw produce and take special care with sauces and preparations that may contain raw egg.
• You should peel your own fruit.
• Avoid consuming products from mobile stalls.

 Pay special attention to environmental risks.

• Protect yourself from the heat, humidity and direct exposure to the sun, especially the elderly and children.
• Protect yourself against insect bites by wearing suitable clothing, using repellents and, if necessary, a mosquito net for sleeping.
• Take extreme caution to avoid infection in bathing areas.
• Maintain personal hygiene.

Services provided in 2014

In 2014, the international vaccination centres authorised by the Ministry of Health, Social Services and Equality provided services to 219,656 travellers (up 5% compared with 2013). A total of 287,098 vaccines were administered in 2014, which represents an increase of 3.85%. The total number of anti-malarial chemoprophylaxis provided in 2014 was 9.25% higher than in 2013 (from 123,560 in 2013 to 134,997 in 2014). Furthermore, the number of vaccines recommended rose by 7.08% between 2013 and 2014 (from 222,288 vaccines recommended in 2013 to 238,036 recommended in 2014).

In order to advise travellers, experts consider personal factors (age, sex, medical history, vaccine status, etc.) and factors associated with the travel in question (destination country, duration and type of travel, time of the year, etc.). Once this information is obtained, they advise preventive measures aimed at avoiding risks related to food and drink, the environment (sun, altitude, insects, etc.), personal hygiene and sexually transmitted diseases. They also recommend and administer the necessary vaccines and, if required, suggest the most suitable pharmaceutical speciality in terms of anti-malarial chemoprophylaxis.

The international vaccination centres carried out some 660,131 individual preventive actions in 2014, three actions per traveller treated, and dealt with at least 126,538 telephone calls.