GOING ABROAD? MILFORD REGIONAL NOW OFFERING TRAVEL MEDICINE SERVICE
Getting ready for that bucket list trip to ride a zip line in the Costa Rica rainforest? Perhaps an African safari is more your speed. Or maybe your boss is sending you to Bangladesh to close that long awaited business deal or your college student decided to spend a semester in Southeast Asia. Before the suitcase is packed, it might be a good idea to think about getting vaccinated, depending upon the destination.
Fortunately, residents of the MetroWest and Blackstone Valley area can now prepare themselves for the rigors of their upcoming trip by visiting the new Travel Medicine Service now offered at Milford Regional Medical Center.
Based in the Infectious Diseases department on the third floor at MRMC, the Travel Medicine Service provides counseling, medication, and vaccinations to adults 18 years and over planning foreign travel for school, business, or pleasure. Consultations are by appointment only, four weeks PRIOR to travel.
“As we continue to come out of the Covid-19 pandemic, we are starting to see more and more people resume their international travel,” said Fozia Qamar, MD, an infectious disease and tropical medicine physician at Milford Regional Physician Group.
“We encourage those who are traveling to resource-limited areas to seek medical advice before they go. Taking certain precautions before you leave can avoid a number of minor illnesses that could potentially interfere with a traveler’s plans, and most importantly help to prevent life-threatening illnesses like malaria, typhoid fever or yellow fever,” added Dr. Qamar, who came to Milford Regional last June after spending the last 12 years at UMass Memorial Healthcare as a clinician educator in the Division of General Medicine and Infectious Disease.
The Travel Medicine Service at Milford Regional offers a variety of immunizations prior to travel, including: Hepatitis A/B, Measles-Mumps-Rubella, Typhoid, Influenza, Meningitis, Japanese Encephalitis, and Yellow Fever.
Consultative services are also offered, such as country-specific travel advice, safe food and water suggestions, education on travel illness and injury prevention, prevention and management of jet lag, motion sickness and high altitude information, and malaria prevention strategies.
“We look forward to helping our community stay safe and protected from illness when traveling to other countries around the world,” said Dr. Qamar.
For more information and to schedule an appointment, contact the Travel Medicine Service at 508.902.9751.
IMPORTANT: Please note that health insurance providers do NOT typically cover travel medicine vaccinations and related services. Patients should always check coverage prior to their appointment and be aware that payment is due in full at the time of service.