Planning to visit Mexico soon? With the country’s beautiful landscapes, delicious food and rich culture, it’s easy to see why millions of American tourists visit Mexico each year. From Cancun to Mexico City, there’s plenty of sights to see and adventures to enjoy in Mexico.

However, before you leave the country, it’s important you make sure your health is protected. To ensure you stay healthy while exploring Mexico, make sure you get all of the required travel immunizations you need before you go abroad.

Discuss your upcoming trip with your primary health physician to determine which travel immunizations you need. If you’re unsure of where to begin, don’t worry! Here’s a list of the most important travel immunizations you should get before visiting Mexico.

Typhoid Vaccine

Typhoid, also known as typhoid fever, is an acute illness. This disease affects nearly 21.5 million people across the globe. About 10% of the people affected by this disease do not survive. It’s important to seek immediate medical attention if you suspect you have typhoid. Common typhoid symptoms include:

  • Fever or chills
  •  Anorexia
  • Headaches
  • Constipation or diarrhea
  • Vomiting

The CDC recommends getting the typhoid vaccine before traveling to Mexico, especially if you’re going to be visiting small cities or rural areas. The disease is spread though contaminated food and water so in addition to getting your typhoid vaccine, it’s important to make sure your food and water are coming from a clean source.

Hepatitis A Vaccine

Hepatitis A is a very contagious disease that affects over a million people each year. Many people catch hepatitis A after consuming contaminated food and water, or in rare cases, through contaminated blood transfusions.

Minimize your risk of catching Hepatitis A by avoid areas where sanitation is poor or where food handlers do not follow proper health codes. This disease is most common in underdeveloped countries and rural areas. Keep in mind, the longer you extend your stay in these areas, the greater your risk is of catching this disease is if you aren’t properly vaccinated.

The CDC advises for all adult travelers to get their first Hepatitis A injection before their departure date and then get a follow up injection 6 months later. The good news is once you get your initial Hepatitis A booster vaccine, you receive lifelong protection from the disease. If you haven’t been vaccinated yet, you should definitely consider visiting your local travel immunization clinic to learn more.

Rabies

Rabies is a disease that is 100% fatal is left untreated. One of the most common ways rabies are spread is through infected canine. Due to stray and feral dog problems in Latin America, rabies can highly epidemic. If you’re planning on traveling to more rural and isolated places of Mexico, it’s important to get your rabies vaccine.

In order for the rabies vaccine to work, you will need to take a series of booster shots first. Due to the amount of time needed for the pre-exposure vaccine to work, you need to get the first part of the vaccine at least 28 days before your trip begins. This will ensure that you get all the boosters you need in time.

Influenza

More commonly known as “The Flu”, influenza is a contagious disease that is spread through infected humans. Common symptoms of influenza include:

  • Sore Throat
  • Fever and/or chills
  • Muscle Ache
  • Fatigue
  • Headaches
  • Cough

While many other illness have similar symptoms to influenza, only someone who has been infected by the influenza virus truly has influenza. With children being one of the most common demographics affected by the flu, the CDC recommends that all children 6 months of older get their influenza vaccine.

Extra Precautions To Consider

Protect your health by getting the travel immunizations mentioned above before you travel to Mexico. If you’d like to have an extra layer of protection during your trip, consider bringing the following with you:

  • Insect Repellants
  • Mosquito Netting

Bringing these items will help protect you from diseases spread by mosquitoes. It is possible to catch both Malaria or the Zika virus while staying in Mexico. To minimize the chances of this happening, it’s important that you know the area or have access to a travel guide that does. Make sure to use proper mosquito protection while in areas known to have mosquitoes.

Due to the dangers of the Zika virus, it is advised that pregnant women avoid any area with a heavy mosquito population or any place reported to have exposure to the virus.

While all of this can seem a little overwhelming, there’s no need to worry. You will have a safe, healthy trip as long as you get your recommended travel immunizations and take the proper precautions while traveling.