The Australian Immunisation Handbook 10th Edition 2013

are free to set their own requirements for entry and some countries require a
valid International Certificate of Vaccination or Prophylaxis against yellow
fever or a valid letter of exemption for all arriving travellers. A country may
require such documentation even for travellers who are only in transit through
that country. The most recent WHO list of individual country yellow fever
vaccination requirements and recommendations for travellers can be found at
www.who.int/ith/chapters/ith2012en_countrylist.pdf. As yellow fever disease
patterns, like other diseases, are constantly changing, it is recommended that
the entry requirements for yellow fever vaccination for the countries a traveller
intends to enter or transit through be confirmed by contacting the country’s
foreign missions in Australia.
Travellers >1 year of age entering or returning to Australia within 6 days of
leaving a country on Australia’s list of yellow fever declared places are required
to have a valid International Certificate of Vaccination or Prophylaxis with
proof of valid yellow fever vaccination (see below). This list is developed based
on the WHO list of countries with risk of yellow fever virus transmission and
international surveillance data, and is available from the Australian Government
Department of Health and Ageing’s yellow fever fact sheet (www.health.gov.au/
yellowfever). Travellers who do not have a valid certificate are provided with
information on yellow fever and required to promptly seek medical assessment if
they develop relevant symptoms within 6 days of leaving the declared place.
Yellow fever vaccine can be administered only by Yellow Fever Vaccination
Centres approved by the relevant state or territory health authorities. Each
yellow fever vaccination is to be recorded in an International Certificate of
Vaccination or Prophylaxis, with proof of valid yellow fever vaccine; the
certificate must include the vaccinated person’s name and signature (or the
signature of a parent or guardian of a child), and the signature of a person
approved by the relevant health authority. The date of the vaccination must be
recorded in day–month–year sequence, with the month written in letters, and the
official stamp provided by the state or territory health authority must be used.
The certificate becomes valid 10 days after vaccination, and remains valid for
10 years.
Note: People with a true contraindication to yellow fever vaccine (see 4.23.9
Contraindications below) who intend to travel to yellow fever risk countries
should obtain a letter from a doctor, clearly stating the reason for withholding
the vaccine. The letter should be formal, signed and dated, and on the practice’s
letterhead. Arriving travellers who possess an exemption from the yellow fever
vaccination are provided with information on yellow fever and required to
promptly seek medical assessment if they develop relevant symptoms.
442 The Australian Immunisation Handbook 10th edition