What other travel vaccines are recommended (other than Yellow Fever)?

There is no "legal" requirement for any vaccine other than Yellow Fever (for most countries). However you MUST confirm the same by checking the CDC website here or by contacting the local embassy of the specific country.
As far as our Charak Clinics is concerned, we are recommending the following Optional vaccines for Personal Protection to travelers to African and South American countries

• Typhoid Vaccine (repeat every 3 years)
• Hepatitis A (2 doses at 6 months interval for life-long protection)
• Cholera Vaccine (new drops available - 2 doses at a gap of 15 days)

These would help prevent common serious water-borne diseases prevalent in these regions.
All information provided by Dr Gaurav Gupta, MD, Charak Clinics. Stamaril, Yellow Fever Vaccine is available at Charak Clinics, Chandigarh, North India for all travelers to Endemic Countries in Africa / Central & South America with WHO certificate of vaccination valid for 10 years. For details write to us at drgaurav-at-charakclinics.com (replace -at- by @) or call at 91-172-5092585, 91-9872303775 during Office Hours.

What are the BEST resources for Travel related information / vaccinations ?

I would recommend the following resources as authoritative and comprehensive, if you are looking for genuine and rapid access to vast amounts of constantly update travel information.

1. CDC Traveler's Health Yellow Book
2. WHO International Travel and Health report

While there are a large number of websites offering travel medicine related information, these are the only two websites that are regularly updated and have huge amounts of unbiased up to date information about almost any travel related health concerns that need to be addressed.

All information provided by Dr Gaurav Gupta, MD, Charak Clinics. Stamaril, Yellow Fever Vaccine is available at Charak Clinics, Chandigarh, North India for all travelers to Endemic Countries in Africa / Central & South America with WHO certificate of vaccination valid for 10 years. For details write to us at drgaurav-at-charakclinics.com (replace -at- by @) or call at 91-172-5092585, 91-9872303775 during Office Hours.

Yellow Fever Vaccine - Stamaril - Side-effects

Brief Summary of Stamaril Side-effects:

Pain/inflammation at injection site, muscle pain and headache, slight fever and malaise. In rare cases, allergy, meningitis, encephalitis (brain inflammation).

More detailed Potential Side effects of Stamaril

Vaccines and their possible side effects can affect individual people in different ways. The following are some of the side effects that are known to be associated with this vaccine. Just because a side effect is stated here does not mean that all people having this vaccine will experience that or any side effect.

Very common (affect more than 1 in 10 people)

• Headache.
• Pain, redness, bruising, swelling or hardening of the skin at the injection site.

Common (affect between 1 in 10 and 1 in 100 people)

• Fever.
• Feeling weak.
• Feeling sick.
• Diarrhoea.
• Vomiting.
• Aching muscles.

Uncommon (affect between 1 in 100 and 1 in 1000 people)

• Abdominal pain.
• Aching joints.

Unknown frequency

• Swollen glands (lymph nodes).
• An extreme allergic reaction (anaphylaxis).
• Rash or hives.
• Very rarely, disorders of the nervous system (neurotropic disease), which may have a fatal outcome. The risk is higher in people over 60 years of age. Symptoms usually appear within one month of vaccination and include high fever with headache that may progress to include one or more of confusion, lethargy, convulsions, inflammation of the brain or nerves, loss of movement or feeling in part or all of the body. Consult your doctor immediately if you develop any of these symptoms following vaccination.
• Very rarely, disorders of the organs (viscerotropic disease), which may have a fatal outcome. The risk is higher in people over 60 years of age. Symptoms usually appear within 10 days of vaccination and may resemble symptoms of yellow fever infection. Symptoms generally begin with feeling tired, fever, headache, muscle pain and sometimes low blood pressure. These may progress to a severe muscle and liver disorder, drops in numbers of some types of blood cells resulting in unusual bruising or bleeding and increased risk of infections, and loss of normal functioning of the kidneys and lungs. Consult your doctor immediately if you develop any of these symptoms following vaccination.

The side effects listed above may not include all of the side effects reported by the vaccine's manufacturer.

The side effects listed above may not include all of the side effects reported by the vaccine's manufacturer.

For more information about any other possible risks associated with this vaccine, please read the information provided with the vaccine or consult your doctor or pharmacist.

Reference:
http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/medicines/100004887.html

(accessed August 2010)
All information provided by Dr Gaurav Gupta, MD, Charak Clinics. Stamaril, Yellow Fever Vaccine is available at Charak Clinics, Chandigarh, North India for all travelers to Endemic Countries in Africa / Central & South America with WHO certificate of vaccination valid for 10 years. For details write to us at drgaurav-at-charakclinics.com (replace -at- by @) or call at 91-172-5092585, 91-9872303775 during Office Hours.

Yellow Fever Vaccine - What is Stamaril ?

Here are some quick facts about the ONLY approved Yellow Fever vaccine available in India.
Stamaril is a yellow fever vaccine that contains a live, weakened form of the yellow fever virus. It works by stimulating the body's immune response to this virus, without causing the disease. The yellow fever vaccine stimulates the immune system to produce antibodies against the yellow fever virus and is given to prevent this disease. One injection is needed and this provides protection against yellow fever from ten days after vaccination. Protection lasts at least ten years, but a booster dose is needed after 10 years if protection against the disease is still required. The yellow fever vaccine is not given routinely in India, but is recommended for people travelling to countries where the disease is found, such as parts of Africa and South America. (1)
Each 0.5 mL dose of reconstituted vaccine from the freeze-dried product contains an injectable suspension in stabiliser of the attenuated 17D strain of yellow fever virus. It is manufactured by Sanofi Aventis at a WHO approved facility in France. In order to be officially recognised, the yellow fever vaccination must be administered in an approved vaccination centre and registered on an international certificate. This certificate is valid from the 10th day after vaccination for 10 years. (2)

Stamaril is recommended for the following categories of people (3)

• Travelling to, passing through or living in an endemic area.
• Travelling to any country that requires an International Certificate of Vaccination for entry (which may or may not depend on the previous itinerary).
• Handling potentially infectious materials (e.g. laboratory personnel).

References:
1. http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/medicines/100004887.html (accessed August 2010)
2. http://www.msd-newzealand.com/content/downloads/Data%20Sheet%20-%20Stamaril.pdf (accessed August 2010)

3. http://www.ema.europa.eu/ema/index.jsp?curl=pages/medicines/human/referrals/Stamaril/human_referral_000052.jsp&murl=menus/regulations/regulations.jsp&jsenabled=true

(accessed August 2010)

All information provided by Dr Gaurav Gupta, MD, Charak Clinics. Stamaril, Yellow Fever Vaccine is available at Charak Clinics, Chandigarh, North India for all travelers to Endemic Countries in Africa / Central & South America with WHO certificate of vaccination valid for 10 years. For details write to us at drgaurav-at-charakclinics.com (replace -at- by @) or call at 91-172-5092585, 91-9872303775 during Office Hours.

Yellow Fever Vaccine - When not to give (Contraindications)

Who should not receive the yellow fever vaccine?

• Yellow fever vaccine should not be given to infants under 6 months of age due to a risk of viral encephalitis (brain inflammation) developing in the child. In most cases, vaccination should be deferred until the child is 9 to 12 months of age to minimize the risk of vaccine associated encephalitis.
• Pregnant women should not be vaccinated because of a theoretical risk that the developing fetus may become infected from the vaccine.
• Infants 6 to 9 months of age and pregnant women should be considered for immunization only if they are traveling to high-risk areas, travel cannot be postponed and a high level of prevention against mosquito exposure is unfeasible.
• Persons hypersensitive to eggs should not receive the vaccine because it is prepared in embryonated eggs.
• Immunocompromised persons and persons receiving cancer chemotherapy or high doses of steroids. People with asymptomatic HIV infection may be vaccinated if exposure to yellow fever cannot be avoided. (1)
• In addition, vaccine providers should give careful consideration to the risks and benefits of yellow fever vaccination for elderly travellers and should routinely enquire about a history of thymus disorder, including myasthenia gravis, thymoma, thymectomy, or DiGeorge syndrome, irrespective of the age of the subject. (2)
  
  For all the above mentioned population groups, if travel plans cannot be altered to avoid yellow fever-endemic areas, consider alternative means of yellow fever prevention, including use of insect repellents, containing N,N-diethyl-metatoluamide (DEET) and permethrin, and other behaviours to reduce mosquito bites.
  

(3)

References
1. http://www.immunizationinfo.org/vaccines/yellow-fever (accessed August 2010)
2. http://www.who.int/vaccine_safety/topics/yellow_fever/en/index.html (accessed August 2010)
3. http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(04)17017-7/fulltext (accessed August 2010)

All information provided by Dr Gaurav Gupta, MD, Charak Clinics. Stamaril, Yellow Fever Vaccine is available at Charak Clinics, Chandigarh, North India for all travelers to Endemic Countries in Africa / Central & South America with WHO certificate of vaccination valid for 10 years. For details write to us at drgaurav-at-charakclinics.com (replace -at- by @) or call at 91-172-5092585, 91-9872303775 during Office Hours.

Yellow Fever Vaccine - A Brief History

Yellow fever vaccine is an attenuated, live virus vaccine that has been used since the 1930s.
The isolation of the Asibi and French strains of yellow fever in 1927 enabled the development of vaccines. Scientists at the Rockefeller Foundation in New York developed a live vaccine (17D) attenuated by serial passage of the Asibi strain in embryonated chicken eggs. The 17D vaccine was first tested in 1936 in New York and in 1937 in Brazil.
Although the vaccine has been available for more than 60 years, the number of people infected over the last two decades has increased and yellow fever is now a serious public health issue in a number of countries once again. (1)
While initially 2 different vaccines (French Neurotropic Vaccine & US 17 D vaccine) were used, due to higher CNS related side-effects the French Vaccine was abandoned & production stopped in 1982. (2)
References
1. http://www.immunizationinfo.org/vaccines/yellow-fever (accessed August 2010)
2. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2892770/ (accessed August 2010)

All information provided by Dr Gaurav Gupta, MD, Charak Clinics. Stamaril, Yellow Fever Vaccine is available at Charak Clinics, Chandigarh, North India for all travelers to Endemic Countries in Africa / Central & South America with WHO certificate of vaccination valid for 10 years. For details write to us at drgaurav-at-charakclinics.com (replace -at- by @) or call at 91-172-5092585, 91-9872303775 during Office Hours.