Middle East - travel vaccination advice
Article
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Vaccination against various diseases is recommended when travelling to most of the countries in the Middle East. The vaccines depend on the destination, type of accommodation, sanitary conditions, length of stay and general health of the traveller.
Malaria precautions are recommended for some countries in the Middle East. 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 a few countries in the Middle East.
People who are unsure if they have had the MMR vaccine or whether they have had measles, mumps or rubella are recommended to have the vaccine.
The health authorities in Saudi Arabia require that all pilgrims travelling to the country should have the meningococcal ACWY vaccine.
International travel is 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, backpacking 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
- Rab: Rabies vaccine
- Typh: Typhoid vaccine
- BCG: Tuberculosis vaccine
- Influenza : Seasonal influenza vaccine
Recommended vaccines
| DESTINATION | GROUP I | GROUP II |
| Israel |
dTP-IPV* |
dTP-IPV* |
| Bahrain, Iran, Kuwait, Qatar, United Arab Emirates |
dTP-IPV* |
dTP-IPV* (Hep A) (Hep B) (Rab) |
| Jordan, Lebanon, Oman, Palestinian areas |
dTP-IPV* |
dTP-IPV* |
| Syria |
dTP-IPV* |
dTP-IPV* |
| Iraq, Yemen |
dTP-IPV* |
dTP-IPV* |
| Saudi-Arabia |
dTP-IPV* |
dTP-IPV* (Hep A) MenACWY** Influenza** (Hep B) (Typh) (Rab) |
* 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 (***).
For an overview of countries with incidence of vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2, read here:
Note that WHO considers some countries at risk of new introduction of vaccine-derived poliovirus. It is important that travellers to these countries ensure that they have up-to-date polio vaccination.
** Visas for entry to Saudi Arabia require documentation of vaccination of people over 2 years of age. The vaccine must be given minimum 10 days and maximum 3 years for the polysaccharide vaccine, and maximum 5 years for the conjugate vaccine before arrival in Saudi Arabia. It is important that the vaccination certificate states that the vaccine given in Norway is a conjugate vaccine that protects against serogroups A, C, W and Y, plus the name of the vaccine. The influenza vaccine is recommended for pilgrimages.
*** Countries with a risk of exporting vaccine-derived poliovirus type 3 should ensure that people who have stayed for over 4 weeks in the country have received a polio vaccine between 4 weeks and 12 months before leaving the country. Travellers must document this with an international vaccine certificate. Applies to people of all ages, including children, even if they are considered fully vaccinated according to the Norwegian immunisation programme. Currently valid for Israel.