Eighty-five per cent of people who travel to countries where they risk contracting infectious diseases do not receive necessary vaccinations, according to research commissioned by the pharmaceutical company SmithKline Beecham.
The research, carried out by the company Behaviour and Attitudes, found that while two-thirds of people knew that vaccinations should be considered before travelling to Africa, less than 5 per cent were aware that vaccinations were recommended for travellers to Turkey, Tunisia, Mexico and Egypt. Those going to the Middle East, the Far East, the Caribbean and a number of other regions should also receive vaccinations.
The research results were announced at a press conference yesterday by the Irish Society for Travel Medicine, a group of medical personnel involved in providing healthcare for international travellers.
The press conference was told that hepatitis A was the most common vaccine-preventable disease contracted by travellers worldwide. The director of the Tropical Disease Unit at Toronto General Hospital in Canada, Dr Jay Keystone, said that people were "taking huge unnecessary risks when holidaying outside Ireland.
"Hepatitis A is the most common vaccine-preventable disease contracted by travellers worldwide," he said. "I urge anyone travelling to South America, Asia, Africa or eastern Europe, who cannot be assured of safe food and water, to receive vaccinations prior to travel to protect against diseases such as hepatitis A, hepatitis B, typhoid, polio and tetanus."
SmithKline Beecham, which is among the leading manufacturers of hepatitis A and B vaccines, began a year-long public awareness campaign in January to encourage foreign travellers to get the necessary vaccines. Its sponsorship of the research whose results were announced yesterday by the Irish Society of Travel Medicine is part of that campaign.