New NUMC immunization center prepares travelers

She never heard from them again, so it is probably safe to assume the students did not succumb to the nausea and vomiting, the stiff neck and back, the sluggishness of the brain inflammation encephalitis.
   
The group of 13 from Hofstra was looking for Yellow Fever vaccinations at the end of March and found Brinda Doraiswamy’s phone number on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Web site. Doraiswamy, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at the Nassau University Medical Center, had been dispensing shots to wary travelers since 2004.
   
“At that time I didn’t have a formal clinic,” said Doraiswamy, who did not inquire about the group’s destination. “I wanted the students to make arrangements.”
   
From this encounter the NUMC’s new travel immunization center was born. It opened in mid-April, a collection of ad hoc rooms, and is still shaping. She would call them back, Doraiswamy, who oversees the center, told the students. Overnight, hospital personnel set up a computer billing system to accommodate the unusually large group of shot-seekers. The next day Doraiswamy left multiple messages, she said, but no answer.
   
The travelers went to their fate and the immunization center to its own, setting up in time for the peak summer season.
  
It was a natural progression. Doraiswamy had been seeing travelers informally for a while, mostly around the spring and summer. Recently, she gave Typhoid shots to volunteers heading to Haiti to aid the earthquake recovery. The vaccination for Yellow Fever, which can lead to encephalitis, is another popular requirement for warm climes.
  
“Given our multi-ethnic and multicultural community that we serve, there is a tremendous amount of travel back and forth” from Long Island to native countries,” said Dr. Steven Walerstein, executive vice president for medical affairs and medical director of the NuHealth System. Each trip requires an assessment, he added. “This gives people an expert in travel diseases at the Medical Center who would be conversant with their needs.”