European travel with non-vaxed kids

[tribalmax]

Hi there, this summer we are taking our 4 year old and almost 8 year old to Scotland, Ireland and Italy. We have never traveled abroad before. Does anyone have thoughts or resources about this? I am not worried about European travel in general -- but you get broader exposure to people in international travel (airports and planes).

I would love to hear thoughts about this! THANK YOU!

Rachel

[lokidoki]

We travel some in the US but no international travel at this time. I do think there are some here that travel internationally quite a bit...so they will chime in I am sure. If it were me ~ I would probably do a lot of immune system boosting though. It doesn't sound as if you are planning to go to places where disease runs rampant or where there are issues with sanitation, etc.? In my mind (without being the one doing the traveling) ~ I am fairly certain I would approach it the same as I would with travel within the US which is the same as when we travel about our city. Admittedly, I am stating this all without having done much research about those places in particular.

[Taximom5]

I traveled all over Europe for 2 months with a 20-month-old who was still nursing.  She had had some vaxes, but not others (no MMR, no CP, no rotavirus, no flu vax, etc).  We were very careful about hand washing, she did not use a pacifier, and never put things in her mouth.  

Neither of us ever got sick, even though it was the height of flu season.

[member234098]

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Edited by member234098 - 5/27/12 at 1:49pm

[JBaxter]

I've been to mexico ( cozumel) and to Punta Cana ( dominican republic) with an completely unvaxed child and a partially vaxed child.  I'll do it again in a heart beat.

[BlueInTheEyes]

see,this was a misconception I had.We have never travelled out of the country,but I assumed that my son would have to have certain vaxes if we ever did.Glad to know I'm apparently wrong!

[rcr]

We have traveled all over Europe, Asia, and Australia. DS is totally non-vaxed. No problems at all.

[tribalmax]

Thanks for all of the replies! While I appreciate all of the anecdotal information, I am still looking for some research based info about travel with unvaxed kids. I seem to remember an article in Mothering a LONG time back that talked about this. But I can't seem to find it. If you know where this magazine is, or other research, please let me know.

Thanks!
 

[Marnica]

Originally Posted by tribalmax 

Thanks for all of the replies! While I appreciate all of the anecdotal information, I am still looking for some research based info about travel with unvaxed kids. I seem to remember an article in Mothering a LONG time back that talked about this. But I can't seem to find it. If you know where this magazine is, or other research, please let me know.

Thanks!
 

I honestly do not think you will find any specific research on travel and unvaxed children. That information is impossible to capture. All that you can do is look at the statistics for a particular disease in a particular country. You can also look up the statistics of vax rates for partciular countries. This however has nothing to do with international travelers visiting/traveling

[nia82]

I'm not aware of specific research on the issue. What you can do is keep an eye on "outbreaks" in your target countries. The CDC as well as the local departments of health list those reportable diseases.

Anyways, I travel to Germany frequently and have no qualms about taking unvaccinated children. The only thing I keep an eye on is measles. Apart from that, generally I employ a rigid hygiene routine at airports and on planes, not because of our vaccine status, but because there are many many people and I would prefer not to catch some cold or diarrhea virus. ;) We wash our hands often, and Lysol stuff down (with those wipes). Stay clear of sick looking passengers and generally never let anyone touch your kid (cause that's creepy in my book anyways). Enjoy your trip.