Northland clinic eases pre-travel preparations

The recently-retired Dr John (Kobi) Karalus believes overseas travellers based in Kerikeri would benefit from the new service in Onerahi, as well as a reasonable number from the Far North. Photo / Michael Craig

A new travel clinic has opened in Whangarei, sparing people from traveling unnecessarily to Auckland in order to get their shots and otherwise prepare for safe travel.

For much of the past two decades, Dr John (Kobi) Karalus was Northland’s only doctor holding a yellow fever vaccinator certificate. He also offered travel consultations for Kiwis overseas.

Following his recent retirement from medical practice, he’s been acting as a behind-the-scenes mentor to the Onerahi Family Healthcare team, which has taken on the role of filling his absence by offering a travel clinic two days a week.

Practice manager Morgan Waymouth said the service was available to all Northlanders and would be most impactful for those living in the Far North.

“With the world opening up again, we wanted to ensure Northlanders had access to this service now Dr Kobi has retired. He has been working closely with us to help us open it,” Waymouth said.

Karalus began his travel medicine journey working for Sir Edmund Hillary at The Himalayan Trust.

The self-described risk-taker later lived with his young family in locations including Nepal, Thailand and Western Australia’s The Kimberley, and gained a personal understanding of the many aspects of remaining well overseas.

Karalus said many travellers lacked a good appreciation of relative risk, and often overlooked matters related to safety, security, and money in their preparations for travel.

“There are environmental and health issues anywhere, even Australia - thanks to rabies in bats in Brisbane and Japanese encephalitis, which is now in parts of Australia, albeit at very low risk,” Karalus said.

“Many people are last-minute travellers, whereas planning two or three months in advance is ideal.”

In his years serving Northland, he has seen travellers off to destinations ranging from Bali and Mongolia to Tanzania and Peru.

Karalus said many travellers lacked a good appreciation of relative risk, and often overlooked matters related to safety, security, and money in their preparations for travel.

“Have they registered their travel with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in case there’s an earthquake, major plane crash, terrorist attack or civil unrest?”

“If they don’t know about you, you don’t exist,” he said.

Karalus said travellers often failed to consider how much risk they were willing to take and offered an example related to insurance.

“If you break your leg and it’s due to alcohol or drug consumption, the insurance company isn’t obliged to pay anything. Any injuries sustained after midnight are considered suspect,” he said.

“Many people have no idea about risk and don’t realise the flu is a much bigger risk than say, getting typhoid fever.

“Measles and things like that are the problems, which is why a full vaccine history is so important.”

Karalus said throughout his career he had focused on preparing travellers for risks they might underestimate, but which were statistically the most likely to affect them.

“Issues like dehydration and diarrhoea needn’t be a huge problem if you know what to do.”

Waymouth said the clinic would be staffed by two doctors and a nurse, all of whom hold travel medicine diplomas.

A new doctor was expected to join the team this month to ensure its general practice offerings remained consistent.

She said the consultation process would begin with a questionnaire to understand a patient’s history, as well as their needs based on travel specifics.

“It depends on the conditions where you’ll be staying. Is it a resort or a mud hut?”

Karalus added “vaccinations advised depend on degree of risk and prudence, which depend on itinerary, activities and time spent in an area”.

Waymouth said before the appointment, the areas of travel would be researched to ensure a full understanding of vaccine needs.

Patients would then receive a 30-minute consultation with a doctor, followed by 30 minutes with a nurse.

“We are accepting anyone who needs the service, not just our own enrolled patients,” Waymouth said.

“People from the Far North will need to come into our clinic in Onerahi, but it’s still a lot closer than having to make the trip to Auckland.

“We’re also stocking vaccines at our clinic to save patients needing to return for a second appointment. It’s a one-stop trip.”

Waymouth added the non-funded service offered family rates and lower prices for children and encouraged Far North GPs to direct patients to the new offering in Onerahi.

Karalus welcomed the news.

“I had been trying to convince someone in Northland to get the yellow fever vaccination certificate for years. Now there are finally two others, one of them at Onerahi,” he said.

Karalus said the lack of a convenient relatively local option could have meant many people would just travel without a consultation.

“I did back when I was a risk-taking lad.”

He believed a great number of travellers based in Kerikeri would benefit from the service, as well as a reasonable number from the Far North.

To learn more about the travel clinic, visit: onerahifamilyhealthcare.co.nz