Travelers Health Risks Before, After and While Travelling
Things to Know Before You Go:
- Research your destination and familiarize yourself with the local conditions, geography, and customs. It is also important that you recognize the key factors that put you at risk for disease. The best way to find information is to ask your health care provider or visit the CDC travel Web site.
- Visit a physician or travel medicine clinic as far in advance as possible before your trip to help assess your risk for illness and create a plan for protection.
- Last minute travelers can still benefit from a medical consultation, even as late as the day before travel, to determine their need for any vaccinations and/or medications.
- Prepare your travel first aid kit. Include a few basic items such as calamine lotion, antiseptic cream, insect repellent, painkillers, and anti diarrhea tablets.
- Make sure to pack a sufficient supply of prescription medications that you are taking and store them in their original bottles. Carry extra copies of your prescriptions in case your luggage is stolen.
- Check your health insurance policy and confirm the extent of coverage your health plan provides for travel. Look into receiving a travel health insurance policy, including coverage for changes to the itinerary, emergency repatriation for health reasons, hospitalization, and medical care in case of illness or accident.
- Make sure your immunizations are up to date. If you weren’t exposed to certain diseases as a child, or weren’t immunized, you could be at an increased risk of acquiring diseases such as hepatitis A, hepatitis B, tetanus, diphtheria, polio, measles, mumps or rubella while on vacation. You can find out on this site if your destination might put you at risk for hepatitis A and/or hepatitis B.
While You’re There:
- Watch what you drink. In some countries: Drink only purified bottled water and beverages, as well as those made with boiled water such as coffee or tea. Use bottled water to brush your teeth. Avoid using ice cubes if you can’t be sure that they were made from purified water. Avoid water or soda from the tap, as well as ice, which can expose you to hepatitis A. Avoid milk and milk products unless you’re sure they’ve been pasteurized. If you become dehydrated, drink lots of fluids.
- Be careful of what you eat. In some countries: Eat only fruits and vegetables you peel yourself and avoid cold cuts and salads. Make sure your food is well cooked and don’t eat leftovers, food from street vendors, or unpasteurized dairy products. Avoid raw shellfish.
- Use appropriate sunscreen, SPF 15 or higher, and apply it 20 minutes before going outside. Sun exposure can have serious, long-lasting consequences like skin and eye damage, premature aging, and skin cancer. Remember, you can get burned even on cold or cloudy days. Snow and sand reflect UV light and can increase sunburn risk. Avoid sun exposure in the middle of the day and wear full-coverage clothing when you can, including a hat. Remember to reapply sunscreen after swimming and make sure children are well protected from the sun.
- Take these travel precautions: Wash your hands with soap and warm water or use an antibacterial soap or sanitizer. Be aware that infected cooks and waiters may be a source of hepatitis A. Avoid unprotected sex, tattooing, and injection-drug use, which can spread hepatitis B.
- Take preventive medications. Even when you’re away it’s still important to continue taking your pills as prescribed by your doctor. To help you to remember to do so, come up with a daily routine that works for you – take your pills when you brush your teeth in the morning or right before you go to bed.
- Avoid mosquitoes to prevent malaria by using spray insect repellent that has DEET insecticide and wear long sleeves and pants to cover your skin. Try staying in accommodations that have air conditioning or sleep in a screened room or under a bed net if necessary. You can also try pretreating your clothes, tent, and netting with Permethrin (highly effective insect repellent and insecticide).
- Be cautious about medical care. Contaminated medical instruments and equipment can expose you to the hepatitis B virus.
Food and drink/digestive health
- Nothing puts a cramp in your vacation like traveler’s diarrhea. Generally caused by bacteria, traveler’s diarrhea is the most frequent travel illness, affecting 20 to 50 percent of international travelers.
- Purify water by boiling for at least 10 minutes or use an appropriate portable filter or by adding iodine tablets
- Consume bottled water
- Drink beverages directly from cans or bottles; if the container is wet on the outside, wipe it dry and clean the surface where your mouth will have direct contact
- Do not use ice since it may be made from tap water; ask for drinks without ice
- Do not brush your teeth with tap water
- Peel fruits and vegetables
- Avoid leafy vegetables and salads that may have been washed in contaminated water
- Avoid unpastuerized milk and milk products
- Avoid eating foods from street vendors
- Bring anti-diarrhea medication such as bismuth subsalicylate with you
- Treat severe diarrhea, which can lead to dehydration, with special oral rehydration fluid, not sports drinks
When You Return:
- Contact your doctor immediately if you have been ill while abroad, become ill upon return, consider you have been exposed to a serious infectious disease. Some symptoms you should look out for when you return: fever, flu like illness, yellowing of the skin (jaundice), urinary problems, skin disease, or genital infections. You should be able to provide your physician with the specifics of any treatment you received while you were away, as well as where you were traveling.
- Continue to follow your doctor’s advice, which may include taking antimalarial medications or getting any doses of vaccines you still may need.
- Be sure to monitor your health. Some illnesses take a while to develop. Early detection is key so talk to your health-care professional if you have any cause for concern.
- It’s never too early to start planning your next trip so don’t forget those important booster vaccinations.
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