Philippines and Vietnam Travel Vaccinations: What Southeast Asia Trips Need

What vaccines do you need for the Philippines and Vietnam?

Most travellers heading to the Philippines or Vietnam need the same core protection: hepatitis A, typhoid, and up-to-date routine vaccines (MMR, tetanus, diphtheria and polio). Beyond that, how much extra cover you need depends far more on where you're going within the country and how long you're staying than on which country you've picked. A week at a Boracay resort and a month backpacking rural Mindanao are both "the Philippines" on your boarding pass, but they carry very different risk.

• Hepatitis A: recommended for all previously unvaccinated travellers to both countries.
• Typhoid: recommended for most travellers, especially those visiting friends and relatives, staying longer, or travelling to areas with basic sanitation.
• Hepatitis B: recommended if you might need medical or dental treatment abroad, or if you're a long-stay, frequent, or adventurous traveller.
• Japanese encephalitis: worth discussing if you're staying a month or more, spending time in rural rice-farming or pig-farming areas, or your itinerary is uncertain.
• Rabies: worth discussing if you'll be cycling, running, or handling animals, staying more than a month, or travelling with young children.
• Routine vaccines: MMR, tetanus, diphtheria and polio should be up to date regardless of destination, since measles risk is currently assessed as higher than the UK in both countries.

Do you need hepatitis A and typhoid for a Southeast Asia trip?

For almost everyone, yes. Both spread through contaminated food and water, and both are common across the Philippines and Vietnam regardless of whether you're staying in a five-star resort or a backpacker hostel; kitchen hygiene standards vary even within the same city. Hepatitis A is given as one or two doses depending on the brand, with a single dose giving protection within around two to four weeks and a booster extending this to twenty to twenty-five years. Typhoid is available as a single injection or a three-capsule oral course; either way, aim to finish at least one to two weeks before you fly so your immunity has time to build.

Is Japanese encephalitis worth worrying about for a two-week holiday?

For a short trip confined to Manila, Cebu, Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City, the risk is low and the vaccine isn't automatically recommended. Japanese encephalitis (JE) is spread by mosquitoes that bite between dusk and dawn, mainly around rice fields, pig farms, and marshland, so it becomes a real conversation once your trip involves rural stays, a month or more away, or an itinerary you can't fully predict yet. In the Philippines, JE occurs countrywide with year-round risk. In Vietnam it's present nationwide too, with seasonal peaks from May to October, especially in the north. The vaccine is given as two doses, either on days 0 and 28, or an accelerated schedule on days 0 and 7 if your travel date is close.

What this looks like in practice

A couple came in three weeks before flying out to spend a month travelling the length of Vietnam, Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City by train and motorbike, with several nights in homestays near Sapa's rice terraces. They'd already had hepatitis A and typhoid from a trip to India two years earlier, so the consultation focused on what this specific itinerary added: Japanese encephalitis, because a month in rural farming areas during peak transmission season is a genuine risk, and rabies pre-exposure vaccination, because they planned to cycle through villages with a lot of loose dogs. Neither vaccine would have been essential for a fortnight based in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City alone. It was the itinerary, not the country name, that made the difference.

Why the rabies vaccine deserves extra attention for these two countries

Rabies is considered a risk in both the Philippines and Vietnam, and dogs are the main source in each; bats can also carry rabies-like viruses. On 31 July 2026, TravelHealthPro issued an alert that falsified rabies vaccine is circulating through unauthorised sources in the Philippines, a reminder of why getting a genuine pre-exposure course here in the UK before you travel is worth the planning. If you're exposed to a bite, scratch, or lick abroad, having a completed pre-exposure course means you'll usually need only two further vaccine doses and no rabies immunoglobulin, a blood product that is expensive and often hard to find quickly outside major cities.

• Pre-exposure vaccination is worth discussing if you're staying more than a month, working with animals, running or cycling, or travelling with young children, who are more likely to approach animals and less likely to report a bite or scratch.
• The standard course is three doses on day 0, day 7, and day 21 to 28. An accelerated schedule (day 0, 3, and 7) can be used if your travel date is close.

Is malaria a risk in Manila, Hanoi, or Ho Chi Minh City?

No. According to TravelHealthPro, there's no malaria risk in Manila, Cebu, Boracay, Bohol, or Leyte, nor in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, the Red River Delta, or Phu Quoc Island. In the Philippines, risk is confined to rural areas of Palawan and Mindanao below 600 metres. In Vietnam, it's limited to the southern provinces of Tay Ninh, Lam Dong, Dak Lak, Gia Lai and Kon Tum, plus other rural areas. If your itinerary includes any of these specific areas, talk to us about antimalarial tablets; for a standard city-and-beach holiday, they're not usually needed.

What about dengue and chikungunya?

Both are present in the Philippines and Vietnam, spread by mosquitoes that bite mainly during the day. Neither has a vaccine routinely recommended for a first-time visitor: the dengue vaccine, Qdenga, is currently only considered for people who've already had a confirmed dengue infection (see our guide to the Qdenga vaccine for detail), and the chikungunya vaccine is reserved for specific higher-risk groups. For most travellers, daytime mosquito bite avoidance, DEET-based repellent, covering up, and screened or air-conditioned rooms, is your main defence against both.

When should you book your Philippines or Vietnam travel vaccines?

Aim for four to six weeks before you fly. That's enough time to finish the Japanese encephalitis course, complete the standard rabies schedule, and let hepatitis A and typhoid build proper immunity, while leaving room to fit in an accelerated hepatitis B course if you need one for a longer stay. If your trip is much sooner than that, it's still worth booking: several of these vaccines have accelerated schedules, and even partial protection from hepatitis A, typhoid, or a first rabies dose is better than none. Read more in our guide to last-minute travel vaccinations.

Book your Southeast Asia travel health consultation in Medway

Medway Pharmacy Travel Clinic is at 465 Canterbury Street, Gillingham, ME7 5LJ, open seven days a week from 7:30am to 10pm, with same-day appointments usually available. Whether you're planning a fortnight in Manila or a month backpacking Vietnam, we'll work through your specific itinerary, not just the country name, to confirm exactly which vaccines you need. Book a travel health appointment or call 01634 575805.

Frequently asked questions