More travellers savvy about exotic disease

With an increasing number of business people travelling great distance around the globe for work, there is a heightened awareness of the many and various diseases that may await them at foreign ports of embarkation. Some countries demand proof of yellow fever vaccination, while others leave it up to you to determine if you should be vaccinated against Japanese encephalitis, hepatitis, or come with a bottle of malaria pills.

New York travel physician Dr. Joseph Mulvehill says, that “people often transpose their own healthcare template onto that of the country they’re visiting. In essence travelers assume things will be quick and easy-this is rarely the case. No one wants to waste precious time seeking out a suitable doctor, followed by hours holed up in a waiting room, just for the sake of an impromptu examination or prescription. Travelers from comparatively clean countries like the U.S. are far more likely to fall ill. We live in a relatively germ-free world, so when we travel our bodies react far quicker to the different bacteria.”

Anyone who has experienced ‘Delhi belly’ or ‘Montezuma’s Revenge’ knows what the good doctor is speaking about.