Medical Services in Laos
Preparing for Your Trip to Laos
Before visiting Laos, you may need to get the following vaccinations and medications for vaccine-preventable diseases and other diseases you might be at risk for at your destination: To have the most benefit, see your Family GP or Travel Health Clinic at least 4–6 weeks before your trip to allow time for your vaccines to take effect and to start taking medicine to prevent malaria, if you need it.
Be sure your routine vaccinations are up-to-date.
Vaccine-Preventable Diseases :
Vaccination or Disease Recommendations or Requirements for Vaccine-Preventable Diseases
Routine: Recommended if you are not up-to-date with routine shots such as, measles/mumps/rubella (MMR) vaccine, diphtheria/pertussis/tetanus (DPT) vaccine, poliovirus vaccine, etc.
Hepatitis A: Recommended for all unvaccinated people travelling to or working in countries with an intermediate or high level of hepatitis A virus infection where exposure might occur through food or water.
Hepatitis B: Recommended for all unvaccinated persons travelling to or working in countries with intermediate to high levels of endemic HBV transmission, especially those who might be exposed to blood or body fluids, have sexual contact with the local population, or be exposed through medical treatment (e.g., for an accident).
Typhoid: Recommended for all unvaccinated people travelling to or working in Southeast Asia, especially if visiting smaller cities, villages, or rural areas and staying with friends or relatives where exposure might occur through food or water.
Rabies: Recommended for travellers spending a lot of time outdoors, especially in rural areas, involved in activities such as bicycling, camping, hiking, or work. Also, children are considered at higher risk because they tend to play with animals and may not report bites.
Japanese encephalitis: Recommended if you plan to visit rural farming areas
Malaria: If you will be visiting a malaria risk area in Laos, you will need to take one of the following anti malarial drugs: Two relatively common choices are atovaquone/proguanil [Malarone] or doxycycline.
You should purchase your anti malarial drugs before travel.
Some Other Diseases that are seen in Laos
Dengue, chikungunya, filariasis, Japanese encephalitis, are some of the diseases carried by insects that also occur in this region. Protecting yourself against insect bites will help to prevent these diseases. Leptospirosis, a bacterial infection which can be contracted through recreational water activities in contaminated water is common in tropical areas of Southeast Asia.
Highly pathogenic avian influenza (H5N1) continues to cause outbreaks in domestic and wild bird populations and has caused human cases in several countries in Southeast Asia. There have been outbreaks in Vientiane and other provinces in Laos with some human fatalities.
Read also:
Australian Embassy Clinic
Planning for your own health in Laos
Items to bring with you
Staying healthy during your trip