Useful tips

Diseases from food & drink

Traveller's Diarrhoea : Traveller’s diarrhoea is acquired through ingestion of faecal contaminated food or water, or both. Both cooked and uncooked foods might be implicated if they have been improperly handled. Especially risky foods include raw or undercooked meat and seafood and raw fruits and vegetables. Tap water, ice, and unpasteurized milk and dairy products can be associated with increased risk of TD. More tha 60% of travellers staying in less developed countries for more than two weeks will get diarrhoea.. It typically results in four to five loose or watery stools per day. The duration of diarrhoea is 3 to 4 days. Traveller’s can experience more than one episode of diarrhoea during a single trip. It rarely is life threatening.

Most cases of diarrhoea are self-limited and require only simple replacement of fluids and salts lost in diarrhoeal stools. This is best achieved by use of an oral rehydration solution.

Avoid foods and beverages from street vendors. It is difficult for food to be kept clean on the street, and many travellers get sick from food bought from street vendors.

Hepatitis A: Hepatitis A is a liver disease caused by the hepatitis A virus (HAV).

HAV is usually spread from person to person by putting something in the mouth that has been contaminated with the stool of a person with hepatitis A.

Symptoms are jaundice, fatigue, abdominal pain, loss of appetite, nausea, diarrhoea and fever.

Vaccination is effective in prevention the disease. Hepatitis A vaccine is the best protection. Short-term protection against hepatitis A is available from immune globulin.

Polio-(myelitis): Poliomyelitis is an acute infection that involves the central nervous system. It is acquired by faecal-oral. Most of the world's remaining poliovirus transmission is in two large endemic areas in south Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Vaccine is available.

Typhoid fever: Typhoid fever is a life-threatening illness and is still common in the developing world, where it affects about 12.5 million persons each year. Treatment with antibiotics is available. Vaccine is effective.

E.coli diarrhoea: Enterotoxigenic E. coli is the most common cause of travellers’ diarrhoea and have also caused several foodborne outbreaks in the western countries. Transmission is through food or water contaminated with human or animal faeces. Person-to-person transmission may also occur, but is likely to be less common. Vaccination against cholera gives protection against ETEC

Cholera: Cholera is an acute, diarrhoea illness and is transmitted through contaminated water and food. The infection is often mild or without symptoms, but sometimes it can be severe. Antibiotics shorten the course and diminish the severity of the illness, but they are not as important as rehydration. Vaccine against cholera is available.

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