TIP SHEET: Precautions for travellers in disease zones
28 Apr 2005
Source: AlertNet
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A Chinese traveller has her mask adjusted by a friend at a railway station in Beijing, April 2004
File photo by CHINA PHOTOS
LONDON (AlertNet) – Say you’re a journalist posted to Angola during an outbreak of Marburg virus. Or an aid worker assigned to a refugee camp where people were dying of cholera. How do you protect yourself?
If possible, consult your doctor for disease and immunisation advice two months before travelling, and familiarise yourself with the vaccines available to you.
Check the effectiveness of vaccines when weighing your decisions. Some vaccines might not be worth taking at all, so long as you plan to take precautions on the ground and can get medical help quickly if you need it.
Do not knowingly expose yourself to people who are ill. If there is simply no way to avoid exposure, arm yourself with the basic facts.
Marburg and Ebola
Fortunately, these highly contagious viruses -- called viral hemorrhagic fevers -- are rare. Most victims die within a week from massive bleeding. There is no cure.
Marburg and Ebola are both spread through blood, vomit, urine, semen and other bodily fluids, but even a cough or a sneeze can pass the virus from one person to another.
Visitors to places where Marburg or Ebola have broken out way should avoid contact with anyone who has the virus, as well as corpses, since secretions from bodies increase after death.
If you must be in a room with someone who is infected, wear gloves and a mask.
Avoid contact with animals, and do not eat bushmeat -- primates and other wild animals.
Cholera
Cholera is an intestinal infection that leads to severe watery diarrhoea, causing dehydration and sometimes death. Eighty percent of cholera cases can be treated successfully using oral rehydration salts. When treated, there is only a one percent death rate.
Cholera outbreaks usually occur where there is overcrowding and poor sanitation. It is transmitted through consuming food or drink contaminated with faeces.
To avoid cholera, drink only bottled drinks without ice and do not eat fresh foods that may have been washed in contaminated water.
An oral cholera vaccine is available, but it lasts just six months and is 64 percent to 100 percent effective.
Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)
SARS is a serious form of pneumonia, caused by the same family of viruses that causes the common cold. Spread by droplets in the air, one cough could kill you. The SARS virus can live in droplets for up to six hours.
SARS symptoms include a high fever, chills and shaking, muscle aches, coughing and headache.
If you are in an area where SARS is present, don’t share towels, and avoid places where SARS is likely to be transmitted, such as health centres.
Wear a properly fitted mask, wash your hands frequently and wear latex gloves in public. Clean door handles, furniture and floors with diluted bleach.
Rabies
Rabies is a fatal virus carried by both wild and domestic animals.
The best way to avoid rabies is to steer clear of animals you do not know. The fatal virus is transmitted when an infected animal -- usually a bat or dog -- bites a human, breaking the skin.
If you’re bitten, clean the wound with large amounts of soap and water and a povidone-iodine solution. Try to confine the animal, so that it can be examined, then seek immediate medical attention.
Once rabies symptoms appear, there is no treatment, but there is a good chance of survival if the rabies vaccination is given within two days.
Use of the vaccine before a bite is usually recommended for people who are at high risk, like veterinarians, animal handlers, laboratory workers and caving enthusiasts. It is occasionally recommended for people travelling to rural areas in countries where rabies is common, across Africa, Asia and Latin America.
Meningococcal meningitis
Meningitis attacks the membranes around the brain and spinal cord, first showing itself as a cough or sore throat. A stiff neck is also a warning sign, along with headache and vomiting.
Meningitis bacteria reside in the nose and mouth and are transmitted from person to person through coughs and sneezes. Stay away from anyone who seems sick, avoid kissing, sharing utensils, toothbrushes and cigarettes, and wash hands regularly.
If you are exposed to someone with meningococcal meningitis you should get yourself to a hospital and start antibiotic treatment as soon as possible to prevent spread of the infection
Outbreaks usually occur in the winter and spread quickly where people are in close contact, including buses.
There is a vaccine that is effective against most strains of bacterial meningitis.
Bird flu
Bird flu has killed some 50 people in Asia, and health experts warn it could kill millions if it mutates into a more contagious form.
If you must travel to countries that have reported bird flu, in humans and birds -- Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam -- avoid markets with live animals, farms or anywhere you might find live poultry.
Avoid touching surfaces where live poultry have been. Wash your hands frequently. You can’t contract bird flu by eating thoroughly cooked chicken.
This is not a comprehensive health guide. Travellers are strongly advised to seek professional medical advice and consult their own governments’ health advisories. More information can also be found at the following sites:
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