Travel vaccinations for India

Do you actually need vaccines for India?

There are no compulsory vaccinations for entry into India from the UK (unless arriving from a yellow fever country). However, hepatitis A and typhoid are extremely common food and waterborne illnesses that affect travellers regularly. For any trip involving food outside of five-star hotels, they are considered essential.

The risk-based vaccines (rabies, Japanese encephalitis, cholera, hepatitis B) depend on your itinerary, duration and activities. A two-week Golden Triangle tour is very different from a month volunteering in rural Rajasthan.

Malaria in India: what you need to know

Malaria is present throughout India at altitudes below 2000m, with higher risk during and after the monsoon season (June to October). Both Plasmodium falciparum and vivax are present. We’ll review your exact route and prescribe the appropriate antimalarial.

Travelling with children

Family trips to India are increasingly popular. Children are at higher risk from dehydration, animal bites and mosquito-borne illness. We vaccinate the whole family in one appointment and provide age-appropriate health kits.

Monsoon and long stays

Stays over a month, especially during monsoon season, increase exposure to waterborne illness, dengue and Japanese encephalitis. Hepatitis B and rabies also become more important for longer trips. Book early as some courses take 28 days.

What to pack from the pharmacy

We’ll make you an India travel kit: rehydration sachets, DEET repellent, high-factor SPF, antihistamines, anti-diarrhoea treatment, and water purification tablets. All available over the counter at 139 New Road.

Traveller's diarrhoea in India, and how to be ready for it

Somewhere between a third and a half of visitors to India get an episode of traveller's diarrhoea, and it is the single most likely thing to cost you days of your trip. Vaccination against typhoid and hepatitis A removes the two serious food and water infections, but it does not stop the ordinary bacterial upsets, so the rest is preparation.

The practical rules are the boring ones: bottled or properly treated water including for brushing teeth, no ice unless you know its source, fruit you peel yourself, and hot food served hot rather than kept warm. Busy places with high turnover are usually safer than quiet ones. Street food is not automatically the problem; food that has been sitting is.

We will make up a kit before you go: oral rehydration salts, which matter far more than any anti-diarrhoeal, loperamide for travel days when you simply cannot stop, and for some itineraries a standby antibiotic with clear written instructions on when it is and is not appropriate. Knowing when to treat and when to see a doctor is part of the consultation, not an afterthought.

Booking an India travel clinic near you in Medway

We are at 139 New Road in Chatham, two minutes from Chatham railway station, and we vaccinate travellers from Gillingham, Rochester, Strood, Rainham, Walderslade and Maidstone every week. You do not need to be registered with a local GP; the travel clinic is private and open to anyone travelling from Kent.

Medway has a large community travelling to India to visit family and friends, and those trips carry a higher health risk than a package holiday: longer stays, home-cooked food and water, rural visits and closer contact with animals all push hepatitis A, typhoid and rabies up the list. Bring the full itinerary, including which states you will visit and how long you will spend outside the cities, and we will build the schedule around it.