Travel Clinic

Global Health Travel Clinic

Please call (617)732-8881 to make an appointment prior to your travels.

The Travel Clinic at Brigham & Women's Hospital is run by Dr. James Maguire, a leading expert in tropical medicine and parasitology.

The ideal time for an initial consultation is 6-8 weeks before your trip; however we are able to accommodate last minute travelers.

Millions of people travel every year to destinations where they are exposed to health risks they do not experience at home. These include traveler’s diarrhea, malaria, dengue fever, Japanese encephalitis, high altitude sickness, and many, many others. There are also many more common questions that arise during travel such as how to deal with jet lag, when to take medications, or how safe public transportation is on arrival. Travel experts report that as much as 40% of travelers experience some illness while traveling.

You can have a safer, healthier trip by contacting the BWH Travel Clinic for an appointment that should be more than two weeks prior to your departure.

Immunizations and Vaccines offered:

• Yellow Fever
• Hepatitis A
• Hepatitis B
• Pneumovax
• Polio
• Influenza
• Rabies
• Japanese Encephalitis
• Tetanus/Diphtheria/Pertussis(Tdap)
• Measles/Mumps/Rubella
• Typhoid
• Meningitis
• Varicella

The BWH Travel Clinic provides complete travel medicine consultation for adult patients. Services include:

• All necessary and required pre-travel immunizations—including the more difficult to obtain vaccines like yellow fever and Japanese encephalitis, as well as more common immunizations like hepatitis A. Patients will receive the PHS 731 form (Yellow Fever Certification Card) required for entry in to some countries.
• Advice and prescriptions for avoiding infectious diseases while traveling—including malaria prophylaxis, traveler’s diarrhea and others.
• Advice and prescriptions for environmental risks—including high altitude travel.
• Advice for travelers with particular needs—including diabetics, pregnant travelers, travelers taking medications that may impact travel risk (such as diuretics or proton pump inhibitors) and others.
• Advice on routine travel matters—including insurance, jet lag and security concerns.
• Advice for the traveler who returns with an illness.

Charges

Travelers’ Clinic appointment charges include professional fees (for physician consultation) and may include immunization charges. Charges for immunizations can range from $20 to over $500 depending on which immunizations are required for your itinerary.

Because these are preventive services, many health insurance plans do not cover the costs. We provide receipts to support claim reimbursement from a third party such as your insurance company.However, we strongly recommend that you check with your insurance company to confirm that travel medicine will be covered by your plan.

Useful Links

Note: The following pages are not maintained by Brigham and Women's Hospital. We are not responsible for any information found on them.

• Center for Disease Control Traveler’s Health
  The best available internet source for information on infectious diseases you may encounter while traveling
• U.S. Department of State Passport Services
  For information on obtaining a passport and/or visa
• International Society of Travel Medicine
  Search for travel clinics
• U.S. Department of State International Travel Information
  The State Department’s site on security while traveling
• U.S. Transportation Safety Administration
  Lists what may be taken on airplanes and other safety concerns
• CDC Yellow Book
  List of things to take along while traveling
• The Travel Doctor U.K.
  A British site on how to deal with high altitude