Blog
Second COVID vaccine? Can I have a Pfizer instead of Astra?
August 22nd, 2021“If have my first COVID vaccine as ASTRA vaccine, can I have the second one as Pfizer?” This is a common question. There is in fact good data that an ASTRA then a PFIZER work better than 2 Astra, and this combination is done overseas eg France, but sadly banned in Australia – probably due […]
News from the travel health trenches
May 24th, 2021Things are quiet, but we are seeing a few travellers – mostly for work trips : Fly in Fly out (FIFO) workers are doing 3 months swings, patients going to help PNG with their vaccine rollout or medical care, but mostly travellers are going to ‘fix things’ – […]
Q&A about Covid Vaccine
March 29th, 2021Is the COVID vaccine mandatory? No – you can choose whether or not you wish to have a COVID vaccine, and you can also decide when you want to have it. If you choose not to have a COVID-19 vaccine, your eligibility for Government payments won’t be affected. It is unclear if […]
COVID requirements pre travel Brisbane
December 7th, 2020Do you need a COVID test before you travel and are you based in Brisbane? Do you ALSO need a doctor’s letter ? or is it just a COVID PCR Nasal swab test? or do you need a blood test as well ?? Yes, it can be very confusing. Make sure you get precise instructions […]
Having vaccines before you start immunosuppressive drugs
October 12th, 2020Might you have to take drugs to modify your immune system? Might you like to go travelling to Africa later in your life? You might need to have vaccines NOW before you start – those vaccines will last for life There are some drugs that may change the way the immune system works. Sometimes the […]
Immunisation for persons working in early childhood services
August 7th, 2020Did you know that childcare work could be putting the health of workers, and the health of their family and friends at risk? For example: Hepatitis A is a very contagious virus that is known to spread in childcare settings, but many childcare workers are not covered. There are two main types of Hepatitis – known as A […]
Longevity of ID Rabies vaccination (TRIDL)
August 3rd, 2020I am pleased to report that this research project has now been completed and is published here, thanks for all those who helped: Mills DJ, Lau CL, Mills C, Furuya-Kanamori L. Long-term persistence of antibodies and boostability after rabies intradermal pre-exposure prophylaxis. Journal of Travel Medicine. 2021 Dec 7;taab188. https://academic.oup.com/jtm/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/jtm/taab188/6454967 Have you had intradermal (ID) rabies […]
10 Tips for surviving 14 days in hotel quarantine
July 25th, 2020Travel Health in the age of COVID Mandatory Hotel Quarantine is a necessary evil in the fight against this virus but it is hard on the “guests”. Those who read the news and think – oh that looks OK…. two weeks in a luxury hotel…. how bad can that be? Well, it’s not completely like […]
Entering Quarantine in Australia
July 17th, 2020Dr Deb Mills I travelled from Dunedin NZ to Brisbane on 10th July 2020. At that time there were no reported cases of community transmission of the new coronavirus in New Zealand so I considered I was more likely to get infected on the flight than bring the disease into Australia. I did not know how […]
Whooping cough vaccination of baby’s visitors
June 21st, 2020Whooping cough (a.k.a. pertussis) is a dangerous disease that can kill newborn babies – even in civilised countries like Australia. In the womb, mothers give babies antibodies to many diseases e.g. measles – but not to whooping cough. Furthermore, whooping cough vaccination cannot be given to babies until 6-8 weeks of age. The vaccine just does not work very well […]
