Travel Infections During Christmas and New Year Trips – Vaccines & Precautions You Must Know
Christmas and New Year are peak travel seasons. Families plan holidays, students travel abroad, and working professionals take time off to relax. While travel brings joy, it also increases the risk of infections. Crowded places, sudden weather changes, unfamiliar food, and long travel hours can expose travellers to illnesses that can spoil the holiday experience.
Many people fall sick during or after travel with fever, stomach upset, cough, or extreme tiredness. In most cases, these problems can be prevented with timely vaccination and simple precautions taken before the journey.
Why Travel Infections Increase During Festive Travel?
Festive travel usually involves packed airports, trains, buses, and tourist spots. Close contact with many people allows viruses and bacteria to spread easily. Travel stress, lack of proper sleep, and irregular eating habits can weaken the immune system.
Sudden changes in climate, such as travelling from a warm place to a cold region or coastal area, also make the body more vulnerable to infections. Consuming outside food and unsafe water further increases the risk of stomach and liver infections.
Common Infections Seen During Holiday Travel:
- Viral Fever and Flu: Viral fever and seasonal flu are common during winter travel. Symptoms usually include fever, cold, cough, sore throat, headache, and body pain. These infections may seem mild initially but can worsen if ignored, especially in children and elderly people.
- Dengue, Malaria, and Chikungunya: Travelling to areas with mosquito breeding increases the risk of mosquito-borne infections. Evening outings, outdoor celebrations, and staying near stagnant water increase mosquito exposure. These infections can cause high fever, severe body pain, joint pain, and weakness.
- Food Poisoning and Traveller’s Diarrhoea: Stomach infections are one of the most common travel-related problems. Eating unhygienic food, raw salads, undercooked meat, or drinking contaminated water can cause vomiting, loose stools, abdominal pain, and dehydration. Early medical advice helps prevent complications.
- Typhoid and Hepatitis A: These infections spread through contaminated food and water. Typhoid causes prolonged fever and weakness, while Hepatitis A affects the liver and may cause jaundice, nausea, and fatigue. Vaccination offers effective protection against both.
- Respiratory Infections: Cold weather, pollution, and crowded indoor spaces increase the risk of chest infections like bronchitis and pneumonia. People with asthma, diabetes, heart problems, or low immunity need to be extra cautious.
- Skin and Fungal Infections: Using shared towels, swimming pools, or staying in humid environments can lead to skin and fungal infections. These may worsen if not treated early.
Vaccines to Consider Before Christmas & New Year Travel:
Vaccination is one of the safest ways to prevent serious travel-related infections. The vaccines needed depend on travel destination, length of stay, and individual health condition.
The flu vaccine is recommended during winter travel to reduce the risk of severe flu. A COVID booster dose, if due, is especially useful for elderly individuals and people with chronic illnesses. The typhoid vaccine helps prevent prolonged fever caused by contaminated food and water. The hepatitis A vaccine protects against liver infection commonly seen during travel. The hepatitis B vaccine is advised for long-term travellers, students going abroad, and those at risk of medical exposure.
Some destinations may require additional vaccines such as yellow fever, rabies, meningococcal, or Japanese encephalitis. These decisions are best made after a pre-travel medical consultation.
Who Should Be Extra Careful While Travelling?
Children, elderly people, pregnant women, diabetics, heart patients, people with weak immunity, and international travellers have a higher risk of complications. Planning vaccinations and precautions in advance is especially important for these groups.
Simple Precautions to Stay Healthy During Travel:
Drinking only bottled or boiled water, avoiding ice cubes, and eating freshly cooked food can significantly reduce stomach infections. Using mosquito repellents, wearing full-sleeve clothing in the evenings, and avoiding stagnant water help prevent mosquito-borne diseases.
Maintaining good respiratory hygiene by washing hands regularly, using hand sanitiser, and wearing masks in crowded places helps reduce viral infections. Staying hydrated, getting enough rest, and carrying basic medicines also support immunity during travel.
When to Seek Medical Help?
Medical advice should be taken if fever lasts more than two days, vomiting or diarrhoea becomes severe, yellowing of eyes or skin appears, rashes develop, or there is extreme weakness. Early evaluation prevents serious complications.
How Expert Guidance Can Help Before You Travel?
A pre-travel consultation helps identify health risks based on your destination and medical history. At Sun Speciality Clinic – FeVac Centre in Coimbatore, Dr. A. Murali, Infectious Disease Specialist, provides personalised travel vaccination advice and preventive guidance so travellers can plan their holidays with confidence and peace of mind.
Conclusion:
Festive travel should be about celebration, not illness. Most travel-related infections are preventable with timely vaccination and simple precautions. Taking expert guidance before travel and staying alert to early symptoms can help you enjoy a safe, healthy, and memorable Christmas and New Year trip.