Cholera is one of the world's more notorious diseases because of its ability to produce outbreaks and quickly kill significant numbers of people. In light of this fact, it is hard to believe that it is actually a highly treatable disease. As a traveler, your risk is relatively low, unless there is an outbreak going [...]
It has been several weeks (months, oops) without a travel health roundup. This is what happens when you are traveling through West Africa. The lapse certainly hasn't been for lack of great travel health content. Here are a few things we've enjoyed recently. When You're On The Road, Sick & All Alone We've featured Earl [...]
This new series of posts will take a look at hypothetical travel health situations and how one should respond in those circumstances. In this case, we will imagine ourselves getting stung by a jellyfish in Australia. Why Australia? It has the distinction of being home to one of the most deadly animals on the planet, [...]
The bane of international travelers is jet lag. One long flight can turn your mind upside down and create something of an internal vertigo. There are ways to lessen the impact, though, and this post will point out some prevention and coping mechanisms that you can use on your next trip. Best case scenario: you [...]
For a tropical country, the travel health risks in Thailand are relatively low. That said, malaria is endemic in certain areas, there have been occasional outbreaks of dengue fever, and there is always the potential for traveler's diarrhea and typhoid. But don't worry - with a bit of caution, these can all be avoided. While [...]
While you're unlikely to come across it, meningococcal disease should be on your radar for the simple fact that it is potentially fatal. The good news is that the disease is rare and it is vaccine-preventable. In this post, we will describe symptoms and tell you where the disease can be found and how it [...]
In one of our more recent posts (What Happens when you Get Sick), we talked about how the body responds to sickness. In this post, we will talk about ways to accelerate your body's fight with a typical cold virus. While there is no silver bullet that will instantly cure your cold and make you [...]
Most travelers don't give bed bugs much thought. Depending on where you are going, it may be unlikely that you will have a run-in with them. At the same time, bed bug infestations have been on the rise in many places and in some cases, even upscale hotels haven't been spared. You mean besides the [...]
Costa Rica is arguably the most touristed country in Central America. This is unsurprising given the country's wealth of rainforest, beautiful beaches and coastlines, and its diverse array of wildlife. Despite being a tropical country, there are less travel health risks than many other destinations of similar climate. There are a few things you need [...]
Everyone seems to have their own sequence of events which lets them know that they are getting sick. Fever, chills, sore throat - these are often part of the equation. But what exactly is going on in your body? Why do we get a sore throat? Why do we end up swimming in mucous? This [...]
