Before coming to Tanzania for your Mount Kilimanjaro climb, we recommend that you get these vaccinations. We strongly advise that you follow your doctor’s guidelines. Please consult your own general practitioner or travel clinic near you before visiting. Only your doctors are in the best position to offer the most accurate and up-to-date information concerning yo0ur vaccines and medicines.
Below are the recommended vaccinations for tourists wishing to visit Tanzania and eventually climb Mount Kilimanjaro.
Strongly Advised Vaccinations
- Hepatitis A – usually spread through contaminated food and water.
- Tetanus – Tetanus is often found in the soil, and open wounds are more vulnerable. Tetanus vaccine is recommended and lasts 10 years.
- Typhoid – Typhoid is usually caused by consuming contaminated food and water, and generally poor hygiene.
- Diphtheria – Sometimes caused by physical contact through cuts or bruises on the skin but usually caused through spitting and can be severe and even fatal.
- Yellow Fever – Can spread through mosquito bites. This vaccination is recommended if visiting Tanzania and lasts 10 years.
Sometimes Advised Vaccinations
- Hepatitis B – This illness is spread through contaminated blood or body fluids. An estimated 8% of the whole Tanzania population carry the virus and it spreads more than the HIV/AIDS virus.
- Rabies – Rabies can cause death if not treated early and is caused by rabid animals’ saliva coming into contact with open wounds like bites
- Tuberculosis – Tuberculosis or TB is an airborne disease mainly spread through inhaling airborne sputum.
- Cholera – Cholera is spread via contaminated food and water, and poor hygiene.
- Measles – This disease is contracted via inhaling sputum.
- Meningococcal meningitis – This disease mainly affects the brain and can cause death. Vaccination is recommended and lasts for three to five years.
- Polio – Vaccination against polio usually lasts for ten years.
If you want to climb Kilimanjaro it is necessary to get a few of these recommended vaccinations. They include vaccination and inoculations against Hepatitis A and B, rabies, diphtheria, tetanus, polio, typhoid, and yellow fever.
