I plan to travel out of the country. When should I come to the Travel and Tropical Disease Clinic?

We prefer if you come to us at least a month before your trip. This time frame ensures you can meet all vaccination requirements.

How do you know what immunizations I need for my trip?

During your pre-travel appointment, we ask about your vaccine history. We also ask where you’re traveling, what activities you plan to participate in and what your housing accommodations will be. Based on your answers and your medical history, we recommend vaccines and other techniques to protect your health and safety while traveling. We provide appropriate immunizations during your pre-travel appointment.

What should I do if I feel sick when I return to the United States?

If you feel sick after returning from an international trip, contact the clinic immediately, and let us help you determine if you need to seek emergency care. Coming to us immediately gives you the best chance at a positive outcome. Our Travel and Tropical Disease Clinic will diagnose your condition and determine if hospitalization is appropriate. If you have a contagious infection, we isolate you to protect others. Whether contagious or not, hospitalized or sent home, you receive appropriate treatment.

Travel and Tropical Disease Services

Why choose the Ochsner Health Travel and Tropical Disease Clinic?

Whether for business or pleasure, traveling overseas is easier and more common now than ever. Exciting as this is, traveling to foreign countries exposes you to new diseases. Vaccination helps you avoid these diseases, and expert care ensures the best outcome if you get infected. For residents of Louisiana and Mississippi, all this and more is available at the Ochsner Health Travel and Tropical Disease Clinic.

Need to access our Travel and Tropical Disease Clinic? Our clinic serves patients from throughout the region, and no referral is necessary.

We’re conveniently located in Ochsner Medical Center – New Orleans.

Ochsner Medical Center - New Orleans
1514 Jefferson Highway
New Orleans, LA 70121
504-842-4005

Staffed by infectious disease experts with specialized training in travel and tropical disease care, our travel clinic focuses on various diseases most commonly found outside of the United States, such as:

Dengue fever

Japanese encephalitis

Leptospirosis

Malaria

Typhoid fever

Yellow fever

To ensure you’re up to date on all current immunizations for travel, staff at our Travel and Tropical Disease Clinic also provide standard immunizations. These include:

COVID-19

Hepatitis A and B

Meningitis

Pneumonia

Tetanus

Traveling overseas potentially exposes you to infections. That’s why we placed our Travel and Tropical Disease Clinic within the infectious disease department at Ochsner Medical Center - New Orleans.

There, our infectious disease physicians work with physician assistants and nurse practitioners. Leading our team are Obinna Nnedu, MD, medical director of Travel Medicine Clinic, and Poppy Markwell, MD. Both are certified in travel and tropical medicine through the American Society of Tropical Medicine & Hygiene, and Dr. Nnedu is also certified in travel medicine through the International Society of Travel Medicine. Together, they diagnose travel-related conditions impacting your health and develop a treatment plan to help you recover.

In most cases, medication is the primary therapy. When necessary, other Ochsner specialists step in to provide surgery and other treatment.

To travel to some countries, you must receive and show proof of immunization against specific diseases. We keep up with these country-specific immunization requirements for you. If new vaccinations become available, we know about them and ensure you do as well. When new treatments become available, we use them to help with any infection you bring home.

We even help you before you return to the United States. Through MyOchsner, you can tell our team about your symptoms and we can connect you to nearby clinics. This helps you get the care you need quickly.