Iowa State students, faculty and staff who may be traveling abroad during spring break or the summer should begin thinking about vaccinations now.

“The key to safe travel … is to start early,” said Mary Fosse, staff nurse at the Student Health Center Travel Clinic.

This is especially true since most immunizations require multiple shots, she said.

“[The vaccination for] Hepatitis B, for example, is a series of shots,” said Randy Mayer, program coordinator for the Student Health Center. “You don’t have to have all three of them before you travel, but if you do, you’re better off.”

The first step, Fosse said, is to fill out a travel form from the Travel Clinic, located in the Student Health Center.

The form asks questions as to where the person is traveling, the duration and purpose of the trip and any allergies the person might have.

The next step is making an appointment with Fosse, who said she’s booked up until the third week in March.

She then conducts an intensive interview with the person, and her recommendations are “personalized as to what that person needs,” she said.

Fosse will then tap into the Travex computer program, which is connected to the Centers for Disease Control. It provides information such as recommended vaccinations, topography and phone numbers of U.S. embassies in the area.

“It’s not just immunization information,” she said. “It’s safe-travel information.”

Recommended vaccinations are different for each country, Mayer said.

“It all depends on the area of the world that [the travelers] are going to,” he said. “If they’re going to Europe, [they’ll] probably only need a tetanus shot.”

While routine vaccinations, such as tetanus-diphtheria and mumps-measles-rubella, are covered by ISU insurance, travel vaccines are not.

However, other insurance companies may have different policies, Fosse said.

“Some insurances will [cover travel immunizations]; some insurances won’t,” she said. “They range in cost from $6 for flu, all the way up to $86 for rabies.”