Central Asia entices travelers with its extraordinary monuments, such as the Taj Mahal in India and the Cultural Triangle of Sri Lanka. The region also boasts epic landscapes, including the Himalayan nations of Bhutan and Nepal.
Get vaccine recommendations for Central Asia
The recommended vaccines for a trip to Central Asia will depend on which destinations you are visiting, the time of year, where you are staying and the activities you have planned.
A person staying in a five-star hotel for a business trip in Laos will be exposed to different health risks from someone visiting friends or family in Sri Lanka, or a person trekking in Nepal.
So the advisers in our travel clinic in Houston will give tailored advice to every traveler. That’s why we want you to come and see us for a travel health appointment six to eight weeks before you get on the plane. It’s quick and easy to get a travel health appointment with Global Travel Clinics – use our clinics page to find your nearest branch.
Which vaccines will I need for my vacation?
Vaccines recommended for traveling in Central Asia, including India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, include:
- typhoid
- hepatitis A
- Japanese encephalitis
In some cases, the travel health adviser will recommend the rabies vaccine and hepatitis B.
And if you have not recently had a booster for diphtheria or tetanus, then those might be recommended before your trip to Central Asia. We can also help with the covid vaccine and flu shots.
Some of these vaccines are given in more than one dose. These doses have to be spaced to ensure effectiveness, which is why it’s best to come and see us six to eight weeks before you travel. But we can still help if you’re traveling at the last minute – so make a travel health appointment right away.
Anti-malarials for a trip to Central Asia
Some destinations in Central Asia, for example Laos, have a high risk of malaria. If this is the case for your destination, the travel health adviser will recommend anti-malarial tablets.
The malaria risk map for Central Asia is complex and changes often, so it’s best to get expert advice that is up to date when deciding whether to take anti-malarials for a trip to India or Sri Lanka.
You’ll want to start taking anti-malarials before you arrive in Central Asia to ensure best protection, and you may need to take them for a few days after you leave. Your travel health adviser can help you work out how many pills you’ll need for your whole trip and they will tell you when to start taking them and when to stop. They can also advise if you’ve had a reaction to anti-malarial drugs in the past.
Learn more about malaria and how to avoid it from the CDC.
Avoiding mosquito bites
As well as taking anti-malarial meds when visiting Central Asia, it’s important to avoid getting bitten by mosquitoes, too. Not only are bites from mosquitoes itchy and irritating, but they can also infect you with dangerous diseases like Zika and dengue fever. Ask about how to avoid mosquito bites during your travel health appointment, and see our travel health article. We have an article on avoiding mosquito-borne illness, and an article on avoiding insect bites.
Other travel health advice
During your travel health appointment ahead of your trip to Central Asia, you can get advice on sun safety and accident prevention. We can tell you about how to avoid food-borne illness, and how to ensure you are drinking safe water while traveling in India.
Book Online