Travellers at Risk
Whilst this survey was completed in
Australia the general trend is world wide. this is not meant to scare, but to
In the lead up to the Christmas holiday season, new survey results released
today by the Travel Health Advisory Group indicate nearly one in 10 Australians
have had an accident overseas whilst two in 10 Australians have had to seek
medical treatment overseas.
Additional studies have also found that between 5% and 8% of travellers
experienced an accident while travelling, and 15.6% of travellers reported
having sought medical care owing to illness or accident during their stay
overseas. Dr Bernie Hudson, microbiologist and infectious disease
physician at Royal North Shore Hospital said that its difficult to predict
accidents or illness whilst travelling overseas, adding "If an accident does
occur, medical treatment overseas can put travellers at risk from infectious
diseases such as hepatitis B, especially when travelling to developing
countries". He added that the medical procedures that can put travellers at risk
include use of equipment containing blood-borne viruses such as needles and
surgical tools, intravenous therapy, blood transfusions or dental procedures.
A review of the literature that included reports from the World Health
Organization found that more than 50% of injections in developing countries are
unsafe, this being because syringes and needles are often re-used on consecutive
patients without sterilisation. This lack of sterilisation can lead to
infection by blood-borne viruses like hepatitis B.
Furthermore, he says that a large percentage of travellers are not seeking
travel health advice before their trip, with one recent Australian survey (2006)
finding that only 23% of travellers seek advice, and a recent international
review finding nearly half of travellers did not seek advice. Dr Bernie Hudson
agrees that travellers remain complacent about seeking travel health advice
prior to their trip, saying, "Accidents and illness can happen to anyone", but
that travellers should themselves the best chance of having a safe and healthy
holiday, and visit their GP at least six weeks before they depart to discuss
your travel health requirements.
Medical risks include: -
Involuntary exposure to hepatitis
Injections into the skin for medical reasons
Equipment containing blood-borne viruses (e.g. needles, surgical tools)
Other risks directly within the control of the traveller and to be avoided
Voluntary exposure to hepatitis
Unprotected sexual activity
Recreational drug use
Skin perforating cosmetic procedures (e.g. tattooing and body piercing)
Attending a bleeding person
Sharing personal grooming items (e.g. razors and toothbrushes)
help health tactics.
Although bedbugs pose no real
threat to human health, tourists prefer never meeting any. It does
not necessarily mean a hotel in Africa, but can be in Paris and New
York. In fact N.Y. had a recognized problem in this area through 2011!
Restoration Industry Association, a non-profit (U.S.) trade
association that promotes best practices in the cleaning and
restoration industry, says although bedbugs are about the size of an
apple seed and visible to the naked eye, their flat, rusty-red oval
bodies can travel through walls via cracks and crevices.
They often hide behind headboards, in the seams and tufts of
mattresses, inside box springs, along baseboards, in and around
nightstands and inside pictures, moldings and loose wallpaper, as
well as furniture, Restoration officials say.
They can attach themselves to anything and can easily make their way
back into a tourists home. To prevent taking bedbugs home,
Restoration officials advise that if you feel suspicious, or just
want to be sure:
-- Before traveling, pack clothes in large Ziploc bags.
-- At a hotel, check the piping along the mattress and frame around
the bed, look for empty body shells under the bed and between the
mattress and box spring.
-- Check the closet for evidence of bedbugs before using.
-- Leave clothes in a suitcase on a luggage rack.
-- Place shoes out in the open instead of under the bed.
-- At home, immediately unpack in a laundry room or garage, wash
clothes and inspect the suitcases.
-- If bedbugs are discovered once home: washable items should be
laundered using the hottest temperature for washing and drying.
Suitcases, purses and unwashable items can be placed in a plastic
bag and left in the sun for a day.
* The Travel Centre and its
associates are not a medical centre or trained medically. We offer these links as a guide
only. By displaying these establishments we do not offer any recommendation for any
particular service. We just recommend that you get as much information as possible, make
an appointment at your nearest practice, and get the relevant medications and
inoculations. Advance preparation means safer traveling.