Polio travel vaccination advice updated

by Tulsi Pindolia on the 28 April 2016

Polio vaccination is no longer recommended for travel to certain countries, the National Travel Health Network and Centre (NaTHNaC) has advised.

Temporary recommendations to prevent the international spread of wild polio viruses and circulating vaccine-derived polio viruses remain in place. | iStock

Following the publication of a WHO statement in February 2016 regarding the international spread of poliovirus, NaTHNAC advises that vaccination is no longer recommended for countries that last reported a case of poliovirus before January 2012. These are:

Angola
Central African Republic
China
Cote d'Ivoire
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Gabon

Polio vaccination recommendations and certificate requirements for other countries remain unchanged.

Travellers visiting countries where cases of wild-type polio have been reported since January 2012 should receive a booster dose of polio-containing vaccine if they have not received one within the past 10 years.

All travellers, regardless of destination, should be up to date with routine vaccination courses and boosters as recommended in the UK. Travellers are encouraged to carry evidence of their polio vaccination status.

The updated country-specific recommendations can be found at mims.co.uk/travel and in the new MIMS Travel Health Clinic, and will appear in the June print edition of MIMS.