Peru Travel Vaccines — What You Need in 2026

Recommended Vaccines

• Yellow Fever

  Allow 4 weeks before travel

• Hepatitis A

  Allow 2 weeks before travel

• Typhoid

  Allow 2 weeks before travel

• Rabies

  Allow 4 weeks before travel

Routine Vaccines to Keep Up to Date

Other Health Risks

• Altitude sickness (Cusco, Machu Picchu)
• Dengue

Travel Health Summary

Peru is effectively three health environments in one trip, and the classic Lima–Cusco–Machu Picchu route hits all of them. Lima and the Pacific coast are malaria-free and low risk, the Andean highlands above roughly 2,000 metres carry no malaria but make altitude sickness the single most likely reason a traveller needs help, and the Amazon lowlands around Iquitos, Puerto Maldonado and Manú carry year-round malaria and require antimalarial tablets. Cusco sits at about 3,400 metres and Lake Titicaca higher still, so flying in from sea level and starting the Inca Trail immediately is the common mistake; plan two nights to acclimatise, avoid alcohol on arrival, and discuss acetazolamide with a travel clinic beforehand. Yellow fever vaccination is recommended for travel below 2,300 metres in the Amazon regions and is required if you are arriving from a country with transmission risk, but it is not needed for a Lima and Cusco itinerary alone. Dengue is widespread in the lowlands and coastal north with a rainy-season peak, and Oropouche has recently been reported in the Amazon basin. Hepatitis A and typhoid apply broadly given how common foodborne illness is, and rabies pre-exposure vaccination is worth discussing for jungle lodges, cycling and long rural stays where immunoglobulin is unavailable. Clínica Anglo Americana and Clínica Ricardo Palma in Lima offer international-standard care, but Cusco has limited high-altitude critical care and the Amazon lodges are hours from any hospital, so evacuation cover is standard advice.

Related destinations

Nearby countries with a comparable vaccine and disease-risk profile to Peru.