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30/04/2014

Updated WHO vaccination recommendations for travellers published

Updated recommendations endorsed at last month’s SAGE meeting

Children receive polio vaccination drops as they arrive into Afghanistan from Pakistan at the Torkham Border Crossing, where an estimated 2,000 children received the vaccine daily. Credit: ©Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation/Kate Holt

WHO published its updated vaccination recommendations for travellers from polio-infected countries in its publication International Travel and Health (polio-related section on pages 33-35). These updates were endorsed at last month’s meeting of the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on immunization (SAGE). Polio vaccination recommendations for travellers from polio-infected countries should apply to all residents and visitors, who spend more than four weeks in the country, of all ages. Resident travellers from polio-infected countries should have received one documented additional dose of OPV or IPV a minimum of 4 weeks and a maximum of 12 months before each international travel. Travellers embarking on last minute/urgent travel that cannot be postponed should receive one dose of OPV or IPV before departure if they have not received a documented dose of polio vaccine within the past 12 months.