Travel Medicine and Vaccinations in Bulli, Wollongong

A travel consultation at Bulli Medical Practice takes about 30 minutes and covers five things.

1. Your itinerary. Countries, dates, stopovers, accommodation and activities. Stopovers matter more than most travellers expect, particularly for yellow fever certificate requirements.
2. Your vaccination history. Many travellers already have some of what they need. Your doctor works out what is still current and what is not.
3. The risks specific to your trip. Food and water, insect borne illness, animal contact, altitude, road safety, and anything relevant to your own health.
4. Vaccination on the day where possible. A full range of travel vaccinations is stocked onsite, so most people do not need a second visit or a trip to a pharmacy.
5. A written plan to take with you. Your advice, your vaccination records, certification where it is needed, and a clear picture of what to do if you become unwell overseas.

The initial travel consultation at Bulli Medical Practice is $118, and a portion of that can be claimed back through Medicare.

Vaccine costs are charged separately and depend entirely on which vaccinations your itinerary calls for. Someone heading to Fiji for a week may need very little. A family preparing for six weeks through India will need more.

Because the total varies so much, we would rather give you a figure than leave you guessing. Tell us your destination when you book and we can estimate the likely cost for your trip, including for everyone travelling with you, before you come in.

If you hold private health insurance with pharmaceutical cover, you may be able to claim back part of the vaccine cost. Full fee information is on our Fees page.

Six to eight weeks before departure is the ideal window, because some vaccinations are given as a course over several weeks and some need time to take full effect.

If your trip is sooner than that, book anyway. There is almost always something worthwhile a travel doctor can do, even a few days out.

For families travelling in school holidays, the practical version of this is to book when you book the flights. December and January fill quickly.

The vaccinations given most often for overseas travel at Bulli Medical Practice are:

• Yellow fever
• Hepatitis A
• Typhoid
• Rabies
• Diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough and polio boosters

A broader range is also held onsite, including hepatitis B, Japanese encephalitis, cholera, meningococcal, measles mumps and rubella, and seasonal influenza vaccinations.

Which of these applies to you is a decision your doctor makes with you at the consultation, based on your itinerary and your medical history.

Bulli Medical Practice is an approved yellow fever vaccination centre.

A number of countries require an International Certificate of Vaccination or Prophylaxis for entry, and the requirement often depends on where you have travelled before you arrive rather than where you are going. It is a common reason travellers are stopped at a border.

The vaccination and the certificate are done in the same appointment at our Bulli clinic, so you leave with the documentation in hand. Approved centres are limited across the Illawarra, so travellers come to us for this from Wollongong, Shellharbour and the northern suburbs.

Several of the destinations our patients travel to carry malaria risk, including parts of Indonesia, Southeast Asia, sub Saharan Africa and the Amazon basin. Risk varies enormously by region, altitude and season, and a country is rarely uniformly risky.

Your doctor at Bulli Medical Practice will assess the risk for your particular route and time of year, then talk through prevention with you. That covers bite avoidance, which matters for every mosquito borne illness, and whether preventive medication is appropriate for you. If it is, it can be arranged onsite.

Travel kits and gastro kits are available at Bulli Medical Practice, so you are not trying to source anything separately in the week before you fly.

Kits are put together for travellers who may be a long way from a doctor. What goes in yours is a clinical decision your doctor makes with you at the consultation, based on where you are going and how long for, and your doctor will explain when and how to use everything in it.

Children need their own consultation and their own plan. Routine childhood immunisations are not always enough for overseas travel, dosing differs by age and weight, and some vaccinations are not given below a certain age.

Bulli Medical Practice sees whole families for travel medicine, and appointments can usually be booked back to back so one visit covers everyone. Dr Png and Dr Hanson both have a special interest in children's health alongside travel medicine.

Bring your children's immunisation history if you have it. If you do not, we can look it up.

The five destinations Bulli Medical Practice prepares travellers for most often:

Indonesia, including Bali
Short resort stays and longer independent trips need different preparation. Food and water borne illness is the most common reason travellers to Indonesia see a doctor when they get home, and animal contact is worth discussing before you go, particularly if you are travelling with children.

Southeast Asia: Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia
Multi country trips through the region raise questions about rural versus city time, wet season timing, and how long you will be away from good medical care.

South America: Peru and Brazil
Yellow fever certificate requirements are the common thread here, along with altitude if the Andes are on your route. Stopovers matter for certification, so bring the full itinerary.

Southern and East Africa: South Africa, Botswana, Tanzania and Kenya
Safari itineraries, remote travel and regional variation in malaria risk make these trips worth planning early.

India and Nepal
Long stays, street food, altitude in the Himalaya and trekking away from medical care all come up in these consultations. Travellers heading back to visit family often assume they need less preparation than a tourist would, when the opposite is frequently true.

Travelling somewhere else? We prepare travellers for destinations worldwide. Bring your itinerary and we will work through it.

Travel consultations at Bulli Medical Practice are available six days a week, Monday through to Saturday morning.

Four of our doctors hold a special interest in travel medicine, led by Dr Julie Blaze, who holds a Certificate in Travel Health from the International Society of Travel Medicine. If you need to be seen before a departure date, we can usually find something that works.

Saturday morning appointments suit travellers coming from further around the Illawarra, or anyone who would rather not fit the visit around a work day.

Practice opening hours are Monday to Friday 8am to 5:30pm, and Saturday 8am to 11:30am. Current travel consultation times are shown when you book online, or you can call the practice on (02) 4284 4622 and we will find a time.

Bulli Medical Practice is at 74 Park Road, Bulli, with parking onsite.

Approximate drive times:

• Thirroul, 5 minutes
• Woonona, 5 minutes
• Corrimal, 8 minutes
• Fairy Meadow, 10 minutes
• Wollongong CBD, 15 minutes
• Helensburgh, 20 minutes
• Figtree, 20 minutes
• Dapto, 25 minutes

Saturday morning appointments suit travellers coming from the southern suburbs, when the highway is quieter and you are not fitting the visit around a work day.

Get directions

• Your full itinerary, including dates, countries and stopovers
• Where you will be staying and what you plan to do
• Any immunisation records you have, for you and for children travelling with you
• A list of medications you currently take
• Details of any chronic conditions or allergies

The more detail you bring, the more specific the advice can be.