.png)
Unlock exclusive benefits and discounted prices as a Health Klinix member. Find out more.
Tanzania, is a haven for wildlife enthusiasts. The Serengeti ecosystem hosts the ‘big five’ game that include elephants, lions, leopards, buffalo and rhino that many travellers flock to see. The Serengeti, and the Masai Mara in Kenya are also famous for ‘The Great Migration’ of 2 million wildebeests, gazelles and zebras, the largest animal migration in the world. If all of this tires you out then you can head to Zanzibar for a relaxing beach stay. This means that you might plan a varied itinerary, so the vaccinations needed for Tanzania will also depend where you go and what you do. Firstly, your childhood vaccination schedule will be the bedrock of your Tanzania vaccinations requirements. As part of this you should make sure that you’re up to date with the diphtheria, polio and tetanus (DPT), measles, mumps and rubella vaccines(MMR vaccine). Secondly, the specialist jabs for Tanzania need to be covered too. If you’re going to remote places with limited access to medical facilities then you will need to consider rabies and hepatitis B vaccinations. Tanzania does also have outbreaks of cholera in and around Dar Es Salaam, so you should be vaccinated if you’re visiting friends and family in the community for prolonged periods of time. A long haul flight to such destinations means that there’s lots to think about and sort out, which is why it’s really important to plan your immunisations for Tanzania well ahead of time. At Health Klinix we’ll be glad to help and guide you if you’re struggling to figure out which injections for Tanzania you might need. You’ll have noticed that we’ve not mentioned yellow fever vaccination. For more information on whether you need the yellow fever vaccination for Tanzania, please see our yellow fever section on this page. So that you have an idea of the possible vaccinations needed for Tanzania, we’ve created a simple table that summarises all of the vaccinations.
What travel vaccinations do I need for Tanzania?
Dr Ravi Gowda, Consultant in Infectious Diseases or one of his highly trained clinical colleagues will be looking after your vaccine requirements. Find out more about the Health Klinix team.
Who will be providing your travel injections for Tanzania
"Just remember it’s not all about having jabs for Tanzania. There are frequent outbreaks of cholera on mainland Tanzania. You might be at risk, especially if you’re visiting friends and family living in the community.
Here are some practical tips to keep you safe:
-
Make sure you have access to safe food and water
-
Make sure you have the cholera vaccine - this is an oral vaccine, so no jabs needed
-
Make sure you carry oral rehydration solution, such Dioralyte"
Dr Gowda's top tip for travel to Tanzania
We're a team of trained experts
Experts in Infectious Diseases
and Travel Medicine
Over 21 years of experience in Travel Health
Cared for more than
10,000 patients
Over 150 5 star reviews on Google Reviews
How it works
Frequently asked questions
This can vary considerably depending on what vaccinations for Tanzania you might have. Some like the yellow fever vaccine is for life, whereas you need a typhoid booster every 3 years. For more specific information on individual vaccines take a look at our individual vaccines pages.
Please note: you will need to book a travel consultation before we can administer travel vaccinations and this costs £30 (1 person).
We generally recommend 4 - 6 weeks as some courses like the rabies vaccination can take up to a month. If you're a last-minute traveller, please don't worry as it will still be useful if you have vaccinations. We can also offer accelerated courses for many vaccines if you end up leaving it too late.
The side effects you might experience, if any, will be dependent on which vaccines are administered. However, common side effects can include injection location pain, swelling and redness at the injection sites. However, many don’t have any side effects at all.
Before travelling abroad please please ask for our advice because as a pregnant woman you may face specific risks in different countries and it may not be safe for you to travel. We usually make a careful clinical decision on the benefits and risks of vaccination on a case by case basis. As a general rule, however, inactivated vaccines do not usually pose a risk but we would avoid live vaccines if you're pregnant.
Yes, children can have most of the vaccines but often at lower doses. If you have any question of if you'd like to discuss this in more detail, just contact us and we'll help answer any questions.
Yes, if you have underlying medical health problems then it will be even more important that you’re fully vaccinated. You’ll need an in-depth risk assessment first to decide what’s right for your own individual circumstances and we can help with this.
Recommended malaria tablets for Tanzania
Malaria risk map for Tanzania
Travelhealthpro.co.uk
You’re at high risk of malaria in Tanzania except at high altitude ( >1800m), so we would recommend you take malaria tablets. Although taking malaria tablets for Tanzania is important, they’re not 100% effective in protecting you from malaria. This means you’ll need to make sure you avoid mosquito bites by using insect repellent and sleeping under mosquito nets.
As we have already discussed, you’ll need malaria tablets for Tanzania so we've created a helpful table as a guide (see below). Which malaria tablets for Tanzania you need will depend upon your individual circumstances and so please ask us for advice.
There’s only a low risk of yellow fever, so we would generally not recommend yellow fever vaccination for Tanzania ( WHO advice) However, a few travellers might be at risk and yellow fever vaccination for Tanzania might be considered for this small group of travellers. These include:
-
if you travel for long periods
-
if you’re likely to have a heavy exposure to mosquito bites
-
and for whatever reason, it’s difficult for you to avoid insect bites
If you’re over the age of 60, then we’d advise you not to have the yellow fever vaccination for Tanzania as there’s a higher risk of serious side effects. With this in mind, it’s vital that you should seek up to date information on yellow fever transmission and vaccination from knowledgeable healthcare professionals at a designated yellow fever vaccination centre - please ask us for help and advice.
For more information yellow fever risk in Tanzania click here.-
Tanzania is most famous for its safaris on the Serengeti with intrepid tourists hoping to catch a glimpse of the big five game (lion, leopard, buffalo, rhino and elephant). Climbers also flock to attempt to conquer Mount Kilimanjaro, the tallest mountain in Africa. But there’s more to Tanzania than meets the eye; Ngorongoro Conservation Area in Northern Tanzania draws travellers to its vast volcanic crater. Once you’ve seen the major sites on the mainland, you might want to head off to Zanzibar and explore Zanzibar town or the rest of the island, or just unwind in the luxurious beach resorts, which are popular honeymoon destinations.
All about Tanzania
Additional health advice and risks for Tanzania
You may also be at risk of the following diseases:
You may need a yellow fever vaccination certificate if you’re arriving from another country with yellow fever transmission. For specific yellow fever vaccine certificate requirements for Tanzania we recommend visiting the World Health Organization for the latest information.
Tanzania vaccine certificate requirements
Authors:
Dr Ravi Gowda, Consultant in Infectious Diseases and Travel Medicine
MBBS, MRCP(UK), DTM&H, MRCGP, DCH, DRCOG, DFFP
Caitlin Lancaster, BSc
Resources:
-
NHS travel vaccination website
-
Advisory Committee on Malaria Prophylaxis guidelines