Travellers, including international students, are at an increased risk of vaccine-preventable diseases such as measles and hepatitis A. Although there have been studies on health seeking behaviour and risk perception of travellers in general, there is currently a lack of information on travel health of young adults in Australia and their risk of vaccine-preventable diseases - including both domestic and international students.

Researchers from the School of Public Health and Community Medicine and the UNSW Health Clinic are conducting a large cross-sectional study of university student immunity to a range of vaccine-preventable diseases including serological immunity, vaccination history and pre-travel health seeking practices. The study aims to:

• determine the serological profile to a range of vaccine preventable diseases in a young adult population;
• identify risk factors for absence or low levels of immunity; and
• assess differences in self-reported vaccination history and serological immunity.

The study comprises of an online survey on travel health and immunisation (Please click here to learn more about the study) and the collection of a blood sample from the student (Please click here for more information on this part of study). The blood collection will be at the UNSW Health Service on lower campus.

Participation is voluntary.

Benefit to students:

• Students will receive the results of their tests for antibodies to measles, mumps, rubella, chickenpox (varicella), hepatitis A and hepatitis B.
• Students will go into a draw to win a MacBook Air (1st prize) or one of two iPad minis (2nd prize).