Travel Health Clinic (Department of Infectious Diseases)

About the Travel Health Clinic

Over 10% of Japanese people travel abroad nowadays in this recent internationalization. Traveling abroad means that the person must be in a completely new environment with every new factor from food and water to lifestyle, separate from the person’s usual and familiar living environment. Not a few people are affected by travel-related health difficulties. The Travel Health Clinic of Department of Infectious Diseases, Okayama University Hospital supports solutions for medical and health anxieties and difficulties of international travelers by providing vaccination, malaria prevention, and information and measures for various health difficulties before traveling abroad.
Year by year, there has been a growing risk of imported infectious diseases in Japan due to increased inbound tourists and mass gathering events (international sports events such as Tokyo Olympics and the Osaka World Expo in 2025). In light of these social changes, the Travel Health Clinic provides appropriate information and also responds to persons traveling back to Japan in ill health.

 

Description of Medical Care

1. Vaccination
  Rabies, Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, Tetanus, Japanese encephalitis, Neisseria meningitidis, Measles/Rubella, etc.
2. Malaria prevention
  Prophylactic administration, mosquito control measures, etc.
3. Measures for health problems predicted during the travel schedule
  Jet lag, economy class syndrome, etc.
4. Prevention and measures for diseases that might occur in special environments
  Altitude sickness, caisson disease, etc.

 

Outpatient Schedule

Not available on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays because the hospital is closed.
  • Consultation day: Tuesdays AM/PM  ※By appointment only. Might not be available according to circumstances of the physician in charge. Make sure that you have made an appointment before visiting.
  • Physician in charge: Hideharu Hagiya (Specialist/Instructor of the Japanese Association for Infectious Diseases, Certified medical worker of the Japanese Society of Travel and Health, and Certificate in Travel Health™ of the International Society of Travel Medicine)
 

For visiting the Travel Health Clinic 

Things you must bring on the day of visit

  • Documents showing your vaccination history
  • Passport (if need a vaccine certification)
  • Student ID (Okayama University students can receive a student discount)
  • Health insurance card

Flow of a visit

1. Make an appointment
 • Email that you want to visit the Travel Health Clinic.
   travel ◎ okayama-u.ac.jp   * Replace the ◎ with a @ to send the mail.
 • The physician in charge will email you later and inform you that your appointment has been made and will inform you of the approximate cost.
2. On the day of the visit
 • The physician verifies the contents of your trip abroad. Please sign a written consent form. Then you will be vaccinated.
 • Confirm your appointment of the next visit. After making payment, you can return home.
 

Precautions

• Visits to the Travel Health Clinic are not covered by health insurance.
• Please note in advance that a visit to Travel Health Clinic requires a consultation fee (3,190 yen) even if you receive no vaccination.
• We only administer vaccines approved in Japan. Please note that we will refer you to another clinic in the neighborhood if you want vaccination using an imported (not approved in Japan) vaccine.
• Most vaccines in general require more than one vaccination and require about 2 weeks after vaccination before the preventive effect by vaccination fully occurs. Please make your clinic visit plan in consideration of your travel schedule.
 

Costs

Consultation fee: 3,190 yen. Certificate of vaccination: 5,500 yen.
 

In cases of side reactions associated with vaccination

The vaccine injury compensation program might apply to vaccines approved in Japan. For details, see the website of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.
 

In cases of pyrexia or ill health after traveling abroad

Consult with physicians of the outpatient clinic of Department of Infectious Diseases or Department of General Medicine on any day of the week: The visit will be covered by health insurance.