International Travelers

PLEASE NOTE:  the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment cannot provide vaccination, medication, or information to individual travelers or recommend specific travel medicine providers. 

Every year more Coloradans are traveling internationally for both vacation and business.  Health risks for travelers are higher in developing countries and rural areas because of differences in sanitary conditions, available food and water sources, and immunization coverage.  Your risk of becoming ill while traveling depends in part on where you are traveling, the length of your stay, activities planned while traveling, your health, and your vaccine history.

Most vaccines take time to become effective in your body and some need to be given in a series over several days, weeks, or months; therefore, be sure to check with a health care provider familiar with travel medicine or make an appointment at a travel clinic at least 4-6 weeks before travel.  Based on your health history and travel plans, you should receive information on vaccines, medications, and other specific precautions (food and water, insect, altitude, travel safety, access to emergency care) during your appointment.

Travel Clinics in Colorado

If your health care provider is not familiar with travel medicine, getting information on what you need to travel abroad may not be simple.  Recommendations can vary or even conflict.  Also, not all health care providers or travel clinics offer everything you may need.  Be sure to ask what services are available to you before you make your appointment.  To ensure excellent care, the American Travel Health Nurses Association has developed general guidelines to assist you in finding a travel clinic.

• Choosing a Travel Clinic Recommendations

Get prepared before your appointment, by visiting the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Travelers’ Health website.  Be sure to note any questions you have for discussion.  Then, at your pre-travel consultation, clarifications will be made (if necessary) and you will receive the appropriate vaccines, medications, and information for a healthy and safe trip!

Travel Clinics in Colorado are not listed separately from the approved Yellow Fever Vaccine Providers in Colorado; therefore, each Yellow Fever Vaccine Provider may not offer comprehensive pre-travel consultation.  Save valuable time and unnecessary or multiple visits to different providers by asking what is available when you schedule your pre-travel appointment.

Yellow Fever and the Vaccine

Yellow Fever is a viral disease transmitted to humans by mosquitoes.  It occurs in some countries of Africa and South America.  If your travel plans are taking you to or from these areas, a yellow fever vaccination may be recommended or required.  Only physicians authorized by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment can give the yellow fever vaccine.  After receiving the vaccine you will be issued an International Certificate of Vaccination or Prophylaxis (ICVP—also known as the “yellow card”).  The certification becomes valid 10 days after vaccination and is good for 10 years. You must take the ICVP with you in order to enter and exit countries requiring proof of yellow fever vaccination.

There are certain medical conditions that may prevent you from receiving the yellow fever vaccine.  If you are unable to be immunized for medical reasons, your yellow fever vaccine provider will fill out and sign the Medical Contraindication to Vaccination section of the ICVP and issue a medical waiver written on the physician’s letterhead (or a country-specific official form) and stamped with their official yellow fever uniform stamp.

For more information on the yellow fever vaccine, visit the CDC’s Yellow Fever Vaccination page.  To find authorized Yellow Fever Vaccine Providers outside of Colorado, visit the CDC’s Traveler’s Health page.

If you are a physician interested in becoming a yellow fever vaccine provider, contact Cinda Caddy Ewing, RN, at 866-896-1586, or by email.  Please note:  the CDC now recommends that all Yellow Fever Vaccine Providers complete the CDC’s online Yellow Fever Vaccine course.