Cheap travel options, including cheap airplane tickets, discount hotel rooms, cheap auto rentals, and cheap vacation packages can help make visiting Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and South America affordable. However visitors to such parts of the world need to be careful to avoid getting travelers diarrhea (TD).
Studies have revealed that up to 70 percent of international travelers to these parts of the world end up getting TD.
Symptoms include urgent dashes to the bathroom, abdominal cramps, sometimes nausea and vomiting, and in serious cases, dehydration and fever.
The main cause of TD is food and water that has been contaminated with bacteria such as E. coli and salmonella, viruses, and parasites from animal feces. The odds of people getting sick are greater when rudimentary water systems, often those in developing regions, do not adequately separate tap water from waste water.
The following are steps you can take to stay healthy:
If where you are staying does not allow toilet paper to be flushed, do not drink the water or accept drinks with ice cubes or diluted juices or cocktails with water. Drink only bottled sodas and carbonated waters.
Only eat local food that is boiled or peeled. In high risk regions packaged food brought from home will be your safest eating option.
Pack a bar of soap and hand sanitizing wipes or alcohol based gel such as Purell. Keeping your hands clean is critical in avoiding illness. Cleaning hands with soap and warm tap water, even in high risk regions, is safe you long as you wash your hands vigorously and thoroughly dry them.
Whether you should take food from street food carts depends on how scrupulously hands, surfaces and food are kept clean and how efficiently the food is served. The following needs to be considered in determining whether it is safe to eat from a street cart:
Select a cart with a long line and quick turnover since that means food is hot and fresh. More popular vendors tend to serve tastier and safer food.
Bring your own bowl and utensils. In developing regions improper washing of serving dishes often leads to the transmission of microorganisms that make people sick.
Only eat food that is served piping hot. Food left out to cool can quickly become home to bacteria.
Do not eat food that is not protected from insects which can contaminate even freshly cooked food.
If the surfaces of a food cart do not look clean and/or you do not see where food handlers can wash their hands, pass.
Return to a cart you have previously enjoyed thereby ensuring another good, safe meal.
If you get travelers diarrhea, you should take Imodium, or any over the counter product containing the active ingredient loperamide to try to control your diarrhea. Untreated diarrhea can lead to dehydration and other serious conditions. Before departing for your trip ask a doctor for a prescription for an antibiotic, such as ciprofloxacin an azithromycin. Remember saying hydrated and getting plenty of rest is important.
If your diarrhea results in a fever of 101 degree F or higher, bleeding, or severe abdominal pain, see a doctor.
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