When traveling to European countries, nothing more is needed than up-to-date routine shots such as measles/mumps/rubella (MMR) or the diphtheria/pertussis/tetanus (DPT). However, for those who may be exposed to blood or bodily fluids or may have sex with the locals, doctors also recommend a hepatitis B shot.
For travel to many African and South American countries, you will need to guard against yellow fever, hepatitis, typhoid and malaria. In some Asian countries, you won't be at risk for yellow fever but you might need to protect against Japanese encephalitis. For campers in some rural areas or for those who will be around animals, rabies vaccines might also be warranted. Check with your doctor or the Centers for Disease Control for specific recommendations.
Even traveling to paradise poses certain risks, so a call to a doctor is always a safe bet. As with travel anywhere, up-to-date vaccinations are a must for traveling to the Caribbean. And like Asia and Africa and other parts of the world, protecting against hepatitis A and B, typhoid and malaria are important, too. If you are going to be working around animals or in areas with bats, doctors also suggest a rabies vaccine.
Mosquitoes are not only annoying, they carry diseases such as malaria and dengue fever. Dengue fever is the most common cause of fever in travelers returning from tropical locales in the Caribbean, the South Pacific, Central America and South Central Asia. While traveling to tropics and sub-tropical areas, take precautions to prevent mosquito-borne illnesses by sleeping in motels with screened windows, using mosquito netting and using mosquito repellent.
