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Travellers' Diarrhoea

Pack a contingency plan to help you deal with unexpected travel bugs. Travellers' diarrhoea is a common and uncomfortable problem for travellers which can upset your otherwise well planned holiday. It is caused by eating or drinking food or water that has been contaminated with bugs that cause diarrhoea. The illness usually lasts a couple of days and you know you have it when you have to rush to the toilet with watery diarrhoea.

ALWAYS WASH YOUR HANDS THOROUGHLY with soap before eating or handling food and after using the toilet.

Plan to avoid travellers' diarrhoea

There are steps you can take to follow which minimise the risk of diarrhoea:

• Always wash your hands thoroughly with soap before eating or handling food and after using the toilet.
• Never drink tap water unless it is boiled or purified first
• Keep to bottled water - or other prepackaged drinks e.g. bottles or cans of soft drink - and hot drinks such as tea and coffee. Sometimes the jugs of water provided (and regularly refilled) by the more up-market hotels will be suitable.
• Always peel fruit (or wash it thoroughly in purified water).
• Choose restaurants where the staff, surroundings and food appear clean.
• Choose restaurants where there are plenty of people eating, as news of a source of illness usually results in less patronage.
• Remember to brush your teeth using purified or bottled water.
• Ask for lukewarm food to be replaced with fresh, hot food.
• Refuse ice in drinks.
• Avoid salads.
• Never eat raw seafood.

Contents

• Travellers' diarrhoea
• Plan to avoid travellers' diarrhoea
• Special precautions
• Purifying your water while you travel
• Techniques
• Oral re-hydration solutions
• When to consult a doctor
• Checklist for treating diarrhoea while you are travelling

Download

Facts About Travellers' Diarrhoea is an A4 size pdf file.
Travellers' Diarrhoea (Adobe Acrobat PDF 780K)