Health Tips for International Travellers

 

·      Plan out your specific itinerary (Destinations, type of accommodation, duration of stay, planned activities)

·      Consult your doctor at least SIX WEEKS prior to your travel.

·      Consider obtaining Travel health Insurance.

 

POSSIBLE MEDICAL PROBLEMS

 

1.     TRAVEL RELATED ILLNESSES

* Travel sickness (Nausea, Vomiting)      ?   Jet lag

       * Economy class syndrome (Leg vein blood clot which may lead to      shooting of clot to lungs which could be fatal)

* Barotrauma (Middle ear or Ear drum damage)

 

2.     DESTINATION-SPECIFIC ILLNESSES

 

* Infections;

 

      1.Through insect bites; eg. Malaria, Japanese Encephalitis, Dengue fever, Yellow fever.

      2.Contaminated food & Water; Typhoid, Cholera, Hepatitis A, Traveller’s diarrhoea.

3.Bathing in contaminated water; Skin infections, Schistosomiasis.

4.Animals; Rabies, Plague

5.From soil to skin; Hook worm, Ascaris, strongyloides.

      6.Sexually Transmitted; Hepatitis B & C, Human Immunodeficiency Virus, Syphilis, Genital herpes & warts, Chlamydia & Gonorrhoea.

      7.Person to Person contacts; Meningitis, Respiratory & skin infections.

 

*Accidents;

 

1.Motor Vehicle Accidents, Drowning, & Natural disaster.

2.Civil disturbances

3.Exotic travellers; Mountaineers, Divers, etc.

 

3. PRE-EXISTING MEDICAL CONDITIONS

         * Exacerbation of certain illnesses (due to exertion, high altitude, climatic change, environmental influences & time zone change & lack of Medical supply).

 

WHAT ARE THE COMMON PRECAUTIONARY MEASURES?

a ALWAYS update your routine vaccines; Tetanus & Diphtheria, Polio.

      a Other Vaccines for Destination-specific illnesses & Required; Yellow fever, Meningitis, Malaria chemoprophylaxis.

      a Take certain Medications & Precautionary items with you; eg. Mosquito net, Insect repellent, water filter, first aid kit.

 

Dr Thava Seelan                                                                    

Travel Health Clinician,  Research Fellow, Dept. of Travel Medicine, James Cook University.