Protection Against Meningitis on Holiday in Africa

If you have young children at home, they should already have received a vaccine against this potentially dangerous bacterial infection but as an adult, it is possible that you may not have done. If you are planning an African holiday for you and your family in the near future, it is therefore a good idea to check whether a meningitis vaccination is recommended for the country you will be visiting.

High Risk Countries and Areas

When considering a trip to Africa earlier this year, I discovered that there is what is known as a meningitis belt across the mid portion of the continent and a wider area around it that includes all countries where the risk of a meningitis epidemic in the future is considered to be high. Basically, if you draw a straight line on a map, from the bottom of the Democratic Republic of Congo to the bottom of Tanzania in the South, then draw another straight line from the top of Mauritania to the top of Sudan in the North, all the countries within that belt of land are considered at risk. In reality, the lines are not straight and you will have included portions of countries that are not considered as high risk but this exercise will at least give you an idea of whether you may need a meningitis vaccination for your next holiday or not.

In our case, it was Tanzania we were interested in visiting, specifically the Serengeti National Park which is in the north east of the country and reaches to the border with Kenya, where it becomes the Maasai Mara National Reserve. This put us firmly in the area of countries considered as high risk but not actually in the meningitis belt of high risk areas. Normally, I would have made an appointment at my local GP’s clinic to have the necessary injections before travelling but they had a bit of a waiting list and the clinic opening times were rather inconvenient for me so I decided to explore my alternatives.

Online Services

Although I use the Internet every day, I was not actually aware that I could arrange to have travel vaccinations online. Obviously you can’t actually physically receive the vaccinations online (!) but you can consult an NHS registered GP and make an appointment to have your injections at a local pharmacy (by fully trained members of staff of course). https://onlinedoctor.lloydspharmacy.com is one of the sites where you can do this; you are sure to find more if you spend some time searching online.

Having Fun

If you are going to Africa to visit a game reserve, I hope you have a fantastic time. While it is of course important to make sure that every member of your family has the recommended vaccinations before they leave (meningitis, hepatitis A, and typhoid being the main ones), the focus should be on planning to see as much of the place as possible during the time you will be there!

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