3 Pre-Travel Tips for the Traveler
This month, we’re featuring a guest blog post from Tara Lombardo, Travel Health Nurse at the Dawson Travel & Immunization Clinic in Guelph.
Did You Know?
- Only about 10% of international travelers receive pre-travel health care
- Out of 37,000 international travelers, 580 were diagnosed with vaccine preventable diseases
- Out of 100,000 travelers visiting developing countries for 1 month:
-50,000 developed health problems
-8,000 needed to seek physician care
-5,000 were confided to a bed
-300 were to admitted to a hospital
-50 required air evacuation
-1 of them died
– stats from CDC
Here are 3 pre-travel tips to keep you healthy:
1) Vaccines
Even before traveling think about updating your vaccines. Even in Canada there is out breaks that you could be at risk for.
- Tetanus, Diphtheria and Pertussis – Whooping cough cases in Canada and internationally have increased with in the last few effecting both children and adults.
- Measles, Mumps and Rubella vaccines if you were born between 1970 and 1991. Cases of all these diseases have increased due to the fact of decreased immunization in the younger population and with the increase of worldwide travel.
- Hepatitis A and B – in Canada there are cases of both of these diseases every year. Some cases of Hepatitis A are from imported fruits and vegetables from Central and South America where Hepatitis A is a high risk.
- Zostavax and Pneumonia vaccines for 50 years and older where the risk of these diseases increase with age.
2) Travel Insurance
This is one of the most important things to have before you travel, even for those short business or weekend trips. At any time or place there could be a medically unforeseen situation, even with the healthy adult.
Medical evacuation insurance should be a priority when traveling to underdeveloped countries, as health care in developing Countries can be generally poor.
3) Food and Insect Precautions
For food precautions: If you can’t cook it, peel it or boil it – don’t eat it!
Insect precautions: Mosquitoes in some regions of the world bite all day long. To prevent bites, use bug spray 30% DEET or 20 % Picardin. Wear light coloured clothing, long sleeve shirts, long pants, socks and running shoes. In some areas of the world you may need malaria medication or yellow fever vaccines. Do your research about the country you’re traveling before you leave.
For more information about pre-travel health care or to book an appointment with a Travel Health specialist at www.dawsontravelclinic.com or call their office at 519-840-0106.
Other great websites to look at for travel health related information: