The Travel Doctor
Traveller's medical & vaccination centre
The Travel Doctor TMVC website provides vaccination advice, travel health advice, clinic details and current health alerts for overseas travel. PHONE 1300 658 844 for your nearest clinic.
Latest News
Smartraveller Consultative Group Meeting on Indonesia
A meeting of the Smartraveller Consultative Group (SCG) was convened by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) on 12 November. More...
Safe Himalayan Trekking – a Reminder
With an improvement in the political situation Nepal is beginning to see a welcome increase in the number of tourists. October and November offer the best weather conditions for trekking and climbing in the Himalayas but the French Embassy in Kathmandu has expressed concern at the fact that six fatalities have been reported since the end of September, More...
Travel implications of resurgent whooping cough
According to an item on ABC News Online the number of cases of whooping cough (pertussis)in New South Wales has increased from 2000 last year to 3800 so far this year. This may represent a low immunisation rate in particular areas but it is not a problem confined to one state. More...
Vaccine recommended for smokers
We have recently drawn attention to the possible protection given by the pneumococcal vaccine against the risk of heart attack... More...
Mumps increasing in Australia
Publishing in the Medical Journal of Australia, Prof Peter McIntyre, director of the National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance of Vaccine Preventable Diseases in Sydney draws attention to the fact that both reported infections with mumps (a notifiable disease) and hospitalisations because of the disease had jumped in Australia in recent years... More...
Pneumonia vaccination may reduce heart attack risk
Risks for the development of heart attack are well known – family history, smoking, high blood pressure, diabetes, high blood cholesterol. In days gone by an attack of pneumonia was regarded as predisposing to later heart disease and this risk factor has largely been forgotten... More...
An unlikely but possible blessing from bedbugs
Researchers at the University of Sheffield in the UK have reported to a conference of the Royal Entomological Society on a unique “immune” organ in female bedbugs which may yield some answers in the understanding of biological defense reponses. More...
World Rabies Day
September 28, 2008 has been designated as WORLD RABIES DAY. More...
Melamine-contaminated powdered infant formula in China
Over 6240 cases of kidney stones in infants with three deaths have been reported from across China as of 17 September. Kidney stones in infants are very rare. More...
Let the buyer beware A warning from Hong
Standard medications and even prescription drugs are widely available, and often cheaper, from unlicensed (and even from some licensed) purveyors in many overseas destinations, and also via the Internet. However, time and again we have reports of sub-standard drugs being purchased by travellers and the World Health Organisation has repeatedly warned about the trade in counterfeit drugs. More...
Is First World Food Hygiene always First Class?
When visiting “Western” countries like in Europe and Nth America, can we just assume that all food is safe to eat? Quite simply the answer is ‘No, not always.’ More...
Kokoda trail is not a walk in the park
Following the track of the World War II Australian armed forces across the Owen Stanley ranges in Papua New Guinea has become a popular adventure. There are a variety of tours organized by a variety of agents and most – but not all - of the organisers arrange for some form of preparatory instruction on risks and precautions. More...
AIDS infection linked to parasites
In an article published by the Public Library Of Science journal researchers have shown that experimental animals infected with the schistosomiasis parasite have a very much greater chance – 17 times greater than animals without the parasite - of being infected if subsequently exposed to the HIV/AIDS virus. More...
Australians travelling to the Olympics- Health Preparation
There will be many Australians lucky enough to attend this year’s Olympic Games in Beijing, and many of them will also travel to other parts of China. Getting prepared properly means thinking about your health, and a visit to your nearest Travel Doctor-TMVC clinic will be more than worthwhile. More...
Olympics visitors must “Beware of the Dog”
Exotic diseases are unlikely for visitors to China for the Olympic Games. A report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the USA and the GeoSentinel Surveillance Network finds that during the past 10 years dog bites were one of the more common health problems travellers face when visiting China. More...
New Travel Doctor-TMVC Clinic in Bangkok, Thailand
We are very, very pleased to introduce a newly associated clinic in central Bangkok who has joined our network, The Global Doctor Clinic. All your travel health needs can be obtained at Global Doctor clinic in central Bangkok. More...
Airline Air is Clean – Australian study
Direct and indirect studies over the years in Europe and America have shown that spread of infection through recirculated air in commercial airliners does not occur, provided filtration systems are working properly. More...
Barrier Reef creatures may yield malaria drug
The Geneva-based Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV) has named an Australian drug discovery project using marine invertebrates from the Barrier Reef as its 2007 Project of the Year More...
Counterfeit or ineffective anti malarial drugs
This site has previously reported on the prevalence of counterfeit or sub-standard antimalarial drugs on the world market. The problem continues despite the well-intentioned attempts of various governmental regulatory bodies. More...
Influenza Mythbusters
The Influenza Specialist Group (ISG) consists of medical and scientific specialists as well as professional and patient groups from around the country. It cooperates with state and federal governments in educational activities about influenza and in conjunction with other organisations runs the annual Influenza Awareness Program. More...
Hazards of swimming or wading – a reminder.
Lurking in fresh water streams and lakes, and in floodplains, there are health hazards from microscopic organisms. More...
Vaccination through the nose?
A report from a team at the Japanese Institute of Infectious Diseases now indicates that a technique of administering a vaccine by nasal spray is at an advanced stage of development. More...
Tuberculosis exposure and travel
Tuberculosis, the world-wide scourge of the Victorian age and early 20th century, has been reduced to a very low prevalence in many countries including Australia and New Zealand and in recent years it has come to be regarded as posing a negligible risk for tourists elsewhere. More...
Measles and Soccer
This year’s UEFA European Soccer Championship will be held in Switzerland. Health authorities there have issued a warning of increased risk of measles among the huge number of foreign visitors expected. From November 2006 to February 13, 2008, a total of 1,405 cases of measles were registered in Switzerland, including 1,106 cases in 2007 alone More...
Chikungunya fever and potential for Australian outbreak.
Chikungunya fever, first described in East Africa, is caused by a virus transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes. It is characterised by symptoms very similar to those of dengue fever and laboratory testing may be necessary to distinguish between the two. More...
Novel ways to vaccinate
Drops under the tongue may be the way that vaccines are administered in the future according to research done at the University of Seoul in South Korea. We have known for many years that some drugs can be administered as drops or a spray under the tongue More...
Measles Vaccination Not Associated with Autism confirmed
A study, published in Archives of Disease in Childhood online this month , examined children aged 10 to 12 years who had previously received the Mumps/Measles/Rubella vaccine. More...
Meningits Epidemic Warning
Expert health forecasters have warned that an epidemic of meningococcal meningitis in the so-called “meningitis belt” in sub-Saharan Africa could be the worst in a decade. More...
Travel Doctor-TMVC opens a new clinic in Brisbane CBD.
To better service our patients, the Travel Doctor-TMVC has opened a brand new clinic in the Brisbane CBD. This state-of-the art specialist travel medicine clinic opened for business on Monday 23rd October and is located at 75a Astor Terrace, Spring Hill, which is right next door to the Novotel. It is easily accessible by public transport as well as having ample parking nearby. To contact the new Brisbane Travel Doctor-TMVC clinic, or to make an appointment phone (07) 3815 6900. More...
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Health Alerts
Meningitis in Ghana
Cholera severe and widespread in Zimbabwe
Botswana First report of Unusual Parasitic Disease
Dengue in South America update
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