With all the focus on health issues in Southeast Asia, it made me wonder if there were risks for travelers heading to the area. The US Center for Disease Control and Prevention provides information to potential travelers regarding necessary vaccines, health risks, and the steps to take to prevent any health issues during their time abroad. (The site can be found here.)
There are a number of vaccines that are either required or recommended before entering the region. First, all routine vaccines must be up-to-date. Second, there are many recommended vaccines as well to prevent common diseases of the area, or serious ones that have had recent outbreaks. These include vaccines for Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, Typhoid, Polio (which had an outbreak in Indonesia in 2005), Rabies, and Japanese Encephalitis.
There are also a number of potential risks travelers are warned about, such as diseases carried by insects, like Ciguatera, Dengue fever, Filariasis, and Japanese Encephalitis.
The most common ailment travelers have to worry about, however, is what is known as travelers' diarrhea. This affects approximately 30-50 percent of travelers to the area. The cause? Untreated food and water. There are many preventative measures that can be taken to avoid this, such as avoiding swimming in fresh water as well as consuming tap water, fountain drinks, ice cubes, dairy products, and food purchased from street vendors.
The last thing travelers should be aware of is any health changes or symptoms that may appear following their departure from the region. Some health problems that may be acquired in Southeast Asia may not surface right away.
When visiting other regions of the world, like Southeast Asia, making sure you receive the necessary vaccines are very important. But you bring up a good point that travelers cannot just stop there. A few simple vaccines aren't going to protect you from the potential health risks and dangers ready to be caught. Dirty water can be extremely dangerous if not handled appropriately before drinking. We take advantage of such simple pleasures but its important for travelers to know that vaccines are not the be-all and end-all
ReplyDeleteI think it's important that travelers are aware of these health risks. These diseases are dangerous, yet they can usually be prevented if travelers are well informed. It is also dangerous for certain types of diseases to come back to the United States and cause a possible outbreak here. It's sad to think that so much disease is present in other countries just because of untreated water.
ReplyDeleteYeah. My mom gets so paranoid about this stuff too when we visit Nigeria. It's different diseases, but overall the same concept! Third World Countries aren't afforded some of the "essentials" and instead they're like luxuries. Like we stay at my rich Uncle's house b/c he's rich enough to get like water filters, purifiers, and all this special stuff for his house, but when we go to like my grandparents house which is in a more rural village we can't eat like anything but dry goods, and prepackaged stuff. I think that people should always research and find out where/what they can eat because getting sick in places like that can be dangerous.
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