New travel clinic offered in Cedar Rapids

CEDAR RAPIDS - The Clinical Services Division of Linn County Public Health is now providing services to help protect people planning to travel outside the United States.

The new Travel Clinic at LCPH offers travelers recommended medications and vaccinations that may be difficult to get at a regular doctor's office. The service is offered at low cost with no office fee and includes vaccinations for hepatitis A and B, typhoid, and yellow fever as well as medication to prevent malaria.

Appointments should ideally be 4 to 6 weeks before departure, but coming in even a week before departure can still be beneficial. LCPH encourages persons planning on traveling abroad to call (319) 892-6093 to set up an appointment. “We are very excited to be able to provide these important services to our community,” Clinical Services Division Manager, Barbara Chadwick said. “Other countries may have diseases to which Americans are not commonly exposed in the United States; some of these diseases can be prevented.”

Every year, students, professionals, missionaries and other members of our community travel outside the United States. Before traveling abroad, it is important to seek professional pre-travel health advice. Receiving this advice and getting the recommended vaccinations and medications is important both to protect personal health and the health of others in our community.

Trip coordinators for large groups planning to travel abroad, for example on a mission trip, are encouraged to contact LCPH and set up a time for the group to come in. For more information about travelers' health, please call the LCPH Health Clinic at (319) 892-6093 or visit the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's travel health website: http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/.