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Travel Clinic

Care for Children Traveling Abroad

If your family is traveling abroad, we can provide advice on foreign travel precautions as well as vaccinations for your child in our Travel Clinic. Our infectious disease specialists also offer consultations through the University of Chicago Adoption Center.

Prior to travel, parents should make sure they are well equipped to handles the health care needs to children, especially when heading to a developing country. Parents should also ensure the entire family is current on immunizations and visit with their pediatrician to discuss other necessary medications and immunizations. Visit the Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website to find specific information regarding country you are traveling to.

Our Travel Clinic offers complete travel care, ranging from consultation, immunizations, and preventative medicine to post-travel care in the event of an illness. During your visit, an infectious disease healthcare provider will meet with you to discuss the details of your trip, your medical history, and your current health status. With the use of a travel disease database, your provider will advise you of the required and/or recommended immunizations. Most of our patients are able to receive immunizations or prescriptions for preventive medicine during their initial visit.

Care Provider

Jennifer L. Burns, CPNP

Medical Director, Pediatric and Family Travel Clinic

Jennifer Burns is a board-certified pediatric nurse practitioner. Her clinical practice focuses on providing pre-travel vaccines and counseling to families with infants and young children who will be traveling internationally.

Jennifer has broad pediatric infectious disease experience including the diagnosis and treatment of CA-MRSA, as well as other serious infectious disease conditions.

Learn More About Jennifer →

Your Visit to the Clinic

Scheduling Your Appointment

Because some of the immunizations are given in a series over several weeks, appointments should be scheduled at least four weeks prior to your departure. If you are departing in less than four weeks, we will make every attempt to schedule you as soon as possible.

If you are planning to move to another country, please schedule your appointment several months before your departure.

What to Bring

In order to determine your travel needs and to make your visit to the Travel Clinic as efficient as possible, please bring the following information to your appointment:

• Childhood vaccination/immunization records, if available
• Travel itinerary with departure dates and all destinations
• A list of any medications you are currently taking
• World Health Organization International Certificate of Vaccination (WHO Yellow Book), if you have one

Convenient Hours and Location

The University of Chicago Travel Clinic is located on the Medical Center campus in the Comer II in 4C. We are available for appointments Mondays, Tuesdays from 8:30 a.m. to noon and Friday's from 8:00 to 12:00 p.m.

Fees & Payments

There will be a fee for the consultation; as well as for any immunizations and medications you receive. We offer group discounts. Payment is due at the time services are rendered. We accept cash and major credit cards.

We will provide you with an itemized receipt for insurance purposes. Keep in mind that most insurance policies do not cover costs associated with travel.

Immunizations and Vaccines Costs

Immunizations and vaccines can be expensive however we try to keep our prices competitive. We administer the following immunizations:

• Diphtheria/tetanus: $52
• Diphtheria/tetanus/pertussis: $78
• Hepatitis A vaccine: $95
• Hepatitis B vaccine: $75
• Hepatitis A/B combination: $145
• Influenza vaccine (flu vaccine): $55
• Japanese encephalitis (three shots): $137 each
• Measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine: $80
• Meningitis vaccine (for patients older than age 56): $125
• Meningitis: $125
• Pneumonia vaccine: $57
• Polio: $56
• PPD Tuberculosis skin testing: $43
• Rabies vaccine(three shots): $196 each
• Injectable typhoid vaccine: $98
• Oral Typhoid vaccine: Usually a four-capsule prescription purchased at the pharmacy. In rare cases, a traveler may require one shot ($98) rather than an oral vaccine.
• Yellow fever vaccine: $128

There is a flat $29 Administation fee. Prices are subject to change.

Most Common Vaccines

Fortunately, most travelers do not need more than three vaccines. The most commonly administered vaccines are:

• Hepatitis A for travelers to developing countries
• Yellow fever vaccine for many travelers to sub-Saharan Africa and for some travelers to Latin America
• Polio vaccine booster for some travelers to Africa and Asia
• Meningococcal vaccine (meningitis/DTC) for travelers younger than age 56 traveling to parts of Africa and to Saudi Arabia during the Haj

Routine Immunizations:

If a traveler is not up-to-date with routine immunizations, we may advise him or her to have them updated. The most commonly recommended shots are measles, mumps, and rubella, varicella and diphtheria/tetanus.

Consultation and Group Rates:

When coming for immunizations, a pre-travel consultation fee also applies:

• Travel evaluation: $92
• Travel evaluation with prior evaluation on file: $46
• Group evaluation $138 for two are more persons
• Return group evaluation $92

You qualify for the group evaluation rate if you are traveling with another person, and both of you can be evaluated together – at the same time, in the same room. This is ideal for couples who do not mind sharing their health histories.

Frequent Destinations

Europe

Individuals who are traveling to this area are exposed to measles, mumps and are importing them into their native country.

2005 Measles Outbreak in Eastern Europe:

• The outbreak started on May 15, 2005, when an unvaccinated 17-year-old girl returned home to Indiana after a church-mission trip to Romania, where measles is endemic. The girl became infected with measles virus while visiting an orphanage there.
• The day of her return, the girl attended a church gathering with about 500 people. The church itself had no position on vaccines, but a significant number of its members had refused to immunize their children against the vaccine.
• Of the estimated 50 people at the gathering who had not been immunized, 16 (32%) became infected with measles that day. Another 18 people in the community became infected over the next six weeks, bringing the total up to 34. Of the estimated 50 people at the gathering who had not been immunized, 16 (32%) became infected with measles that day. Another 18 people in the community became infected over the next six weeks, bringing the total up to 34.
• The outbreak was the largest documented outbreak in nearly a decade, created substantial health risks, and required a vigorous and expensive public health response," the CDC authors said.

Measles Outbreak in Western Europe

• The outbreak ensued when an intentionally unvaccinated 7-year-old boy returned from Switzerland and unknowingly imported the disease.
• From Jan. 11 to Feb. 29, 2008, an additional 839 people were exposed and 11 additional measles cases were identified, all in unvaccinated children, the researchers reported.
• One measles-related hospitalization occurred in an infant too young to be vaccinated, and an additional 48 children too young to be vaccinated were quarantined.

United Kingdom

• The index case for an outbreak of mumps in the US, says the CDC, is an 11-year-old boy returning from the United Kingdom, where approximately 7,400 reports of laboratory-confirmed mumps was reported in 2009. Since then, the UK is enduring an ongoing outbreak that currently involves more than 4,000 confirmed cases of mumps.
• The boy, who is of the Orthodox Jewish faith, attended a religion-specific summer camp in June 2009. The mumps virus rapidly spread through the Jewish Orthodox communities in New York and New Jersey; as of January 29, 2010, a total of 1,521 cases have been reported .

Africa

People do not realize that there is an increase risk of meningitis transmission in the Sub Sahara belt during the dry period from December to June. Meningcoccal vaccine can be obtained at most patient's primary care provider

Asia

Chloroquine and mefloquine resistant zones exist in regions along the Thai-Myanmar and Thai-Camboidian border, doxycycline or atovaquone-proguanil are the drugs of choice for chemoprophylaxis

Quick Tips

• Prepare for Traveler's Diarrhea. When traveling outside of the USA, Western Europe and Canada need to worry about traveler's diarrhea and be ready to treat it with an oral antibiotic . It is important to consult a health care provider to get antibiotics to be prepared to treat traveler's diarrhea
• Make Your Own Rehydration Solution. Most complications of traveler's diarrhea is dehydration, parent's need to be prepared to know how to quickly rehydrate themselves and their children with rehydration solution. A quick and easy recipe for making your own rehydration solution.
• Get Traveler's Insurance. It is important when traveling outside of the US to consider getting traveler's insurance as many US health care plans may not cover individuals traveling outside of the US for prolonged period of time. Be sure to check with your provider for international coverage.