Africa - travel vaccination advice
Article
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Vaccination against various diseases is recommended when travelling to most African countries. The vaccines depend on the destination, type of accommodation, sanitary conditions, length of stay and general health of the traveller.
Malaria precautions are essential in almost all African countries, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa. Avoid mosquito bites by covering up with clothing such as long sleeves and long trousers especially after sunset, using insect repellents on exposed skin and, when necessary, sleeping under a mosquito net. In addition, antimalarial tablets are recommended when travelling to most countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.
For information about yellow-fever vaccination requirements, see WHOs overview:
People who are unsure whether they have had the MMR vaccine or had the diseases measles, mumps or rubella (German measles) should have the vaccine.
The meningococcal vaccine ACWY is recommended for travellers to the "meningitis belt" in Africa that stretches across the continent from Senegal to Ethiopia. Other vaccines than those mentioned in the table should be assessed individually.
International travel types are divided into two main groups
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GROUP I |
Business and tourist travel to cities and tourist resorts, staying in standard tourist-class hotels with good food hygiene and adequate sanitary conditions. |
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GROUP II |
Long-term foreign travel or residence in areas with poor hygiene and sanitation, and / or close and prolonged contact with locals (such as work, back-packing trips, immigrants on a visit to their former homeland). |
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( ): Parentheses around the abbreviation means that the proposed prevention should be considered individually depending on the trip type and local geographic and seasonal variations in disease prevalence. In addition, the traveller's health, age and previous immunisation status should be considered. |
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Abbreviations for travel vaccines
- dTP-IPV: Diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough and poliomyelitis vaccine
- IPV: Poliomyelitis vaccine
- Hep A: Hepatitis A vaccine
- Hep B: Hepatitis B vaccine
- MenACWY: Meningococcal vaccine against serotypes A,C,W and Y
- Rab: Rabies vaccine
- Typh: Typhoid vaccine
- Y: Yellow fever vaccine
- BCG: Tuberculosis vaccine
| DESTINATION | GROUP I | GROUP II |
| Seychelles |
dTP-IPV * |
dTP-IPV * |
| Ascension Islands, Saint Helena, Tristan da Cunha |
dTP-IPV * |
dTP-IPV * |
| Mauritius, Réunion |
dTP-IPV * |
dTP-IPV * |
| Cape Verde |
dTP-IPV * |
dTP-IPV * |
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Comoros, Egypt, Tunisia |
dTP-IPV * |
dTP-IPV * |
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Algeria, Botswana, Djibouti, Lesotho, Libya, Morocco, Namibia, Somalia, South Africa, Swaziland (Eswatini), Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe |
dTP-IPV * |
dTP-IPV * |
|
Malawi, Mozambique, Madagascar |
dTP-IPV * |
dTP-IPV * |
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Democratic Republic of Congo |
dTP-IPV * IPV** |
dTP-IPV * IPV** |
| Eritrea | dTP-IPV * Hep A |
dTP-IPV * |
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Angola, Burundi, Congo (Brazzaville), Gabon, Liberia, Rwanda, São Tomé and Príncipe |
dTP-IPV * Hep A Y |
dTP-IPV * |
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Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, South Sudan, Togo, Uganda |
dTP-IPV * Hep A Y |
dTP-IPV * |
* Everybody should be vaccinated against diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (whooping cough) and poliomyelitis. Adults who have had the basic vaccinations should have a booster dose against these diseases every 10 years.
For travel to countries with prevalence of vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2, it is particularly important to ensure up-to-date polio vaccination and consider bringing forward vaccination of infants. The WHO and Norwegian health authorities encourage visitors who have stayed for more than 4 weeks in countries with polio outbreaks and risk of exporting vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2, to follow the advice in the section below (**).
Note that WHO considers some countries to be vulnerable to reintroduction of vaccine-derived poliovirus. It is important that travellers to these countries make sure they have updated polio vaccination.
** Countries at risk of exporting vaccine-derived poliovirus type 1, type 3 or wild poliovirus should ensure that people who have stayed for over 4 weeks in the country have had the polio vaccine between 4 weeks and 12 months before leaving the country. Travellers must be able to document this with an international vaccine certificate. This applies for people of all ages, including children who are considered to be fully vaccinated according to the Childhood Immunisation Programme.
This currently applies to Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique and DR Congo.