Beware of
contaminated bottled water
Last week I saw a patient who had
returned from Vietnam with travellers diarrhea.
On questioning she felt sure that
she had caught the infection after drinking from a
bottle of water that she had bought from a small street
stall in the Mekong Delta. After having a few drinks she
realized that the seal hadn’t been intact on the bottle
lid when she had opened it.
This is a common scam in poorer
parts of developing countries. Empty water bottles are
refilled and then sold again. Best to avoid buying
bottles from street vendors especially from children.
Dr Paul Davey, Travel Health Geelong
 Australian
Polio Vaccination is safe
There has recently been a news
report detailing an outbreak of Polio in Nigeria
following on from polio vaccination.
This can’t occur in Australia as
we use a different vaccine. In developing countries oral
polio vaccine is used as it is very cheap. This is a
live vaccine that multiplies in the gut and is
excreted with the faeces. People with reduced immunity
can then be exposed to the excreted virus and catch a
form of polio.
The oral polio vaccine is no
longer used in Australia instead we use an injected
vaccine which is very safe.
Anti malarial
tablets
Travellers are often reluctant to
take anti malarials due to anticipated or occurring side
effects.
Malarone is the newest anti
malarial medication and is a very effective safe
medication. It can be used by children and doesn’t cause
nausea. Sensitivity to sunlight and increased thrush
occurrence also doesn’t occur. It can be started a day
before going into the malaria area and is taken for one
week after leaving.
It is a more expensive medication
than other agents but it is often an excellent choice
when anti malarials are needed.
 Carry
on cosmetics on international flights
We are all now getting used to the
new requirements re displaying of any fluid in clear
plastic bags.
This does include lipstick and
single use eye drop containers. My family found this out
on a recent return trip from New Zealand with the
embarrassment of a complete emptying of a handbag at NZ
customs.
Travel
story from Lynne Woolley RN
 Kenyan
Safari
When I go on holidays, I'm much
more interested in the wildlife and wilderness
areas than big cities teeming with people. It
has always been my dream to see the African
animals in their natural habitat, and that dream
came true last year. We flew to Bangkok first,
and had a few days there so we could cuddle the
tigers at the tiger temple (Kanchanaburi). What
an awesome experience.
Read Lynne's full story here.
Written by Lynne Woolley RN at the
Gold Coast member clinic of TMA
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