Warren Wagstaff doesn’t leave his health to chance when he travels. A financial advisor with Raymond James Ltd. in Vancouver, Wagstaff travels annually to less developed parts of the world for charity work.
Wagstaff has seen what can happen when illness meets subpar health care, so he does everything in his power to stay healthy when travelling. He has visited Togo, the Philippines and India several times to distribute bed kits for the charitable project known as Sleeping Children Around the World.
A few months before such a trip, Wagstaff arranges to see his family doctor to get whatever shots and medication he needs to protect himself against prevalent infectious and tropical diseases.
Wagstaff also packs a “mean medical kit,” he says. Over time, his kit has come to include not only the usual just-in-case provisions such as painkillers and bandages, but also a few extras, including all-purpose antibiotics, anti-diarrheal medication and sealed syringes (of particular importance when travelling to countries ravaged by AIDS). “It’s the boy scout in me,” he says.
Unfortunately, Wagstaff’s caution isn’t typical for Canadian travellers. Whether you blame it on the growth of last-minute travel deals, citizens who don’t equate travel with peril or even a travel industry that is not keen on publicizing the health risks of certain destinations, only one-third of Canadian travellers seek medical advice before taking off. Of those, not everyone allows sufficient time to prepare.
Dr. Sherry Asgari-Pour, travel medical consultant and marketing manager with the International Travel Health and Vaccination Clinic in Langley, B.C., often witnesses the last-minute approach to travel-related health issues. Doctors and travel clinics can provide some protection a few days before travel, such as booster shots, malaria pills and mosquito nets, she says. But some vaccinations, such as those for hepatitis A and B, require a round of shots spaced over several weeks or months.
Travel clinics
Many Canadians seek advice from their family doctors, while others choose to visit a specialized travel clinic, especially for their first major trip. These clinics, most of which are staffed by physicians with expertise in this subject, can make up-to-the-minute recommendations based on destinations a well as your health history, risk tolerance and anticipated travel activities. “If someone is going to go backpacking in South Africa,” Asgari-Pour says, “it’s going to be different from someone who is going for business and staying in a hotel.”@page_break@Age is also critical. While so-called “non-live” vaccines are generally no more harmful than the annual flu shot for most of us (side effects might include a slight fever or a sore injection site), live vaccines — which include bits of the actual disease, albeit in a less virulent state — can be more risky. For instance, the yellow fever vaccine, which is mandatory when visiting some countries in South America and Central Africa, is generally not recommended for people over 60.
According to Dr. Mark Wise, a family doctor who runs the Travel Clinic in North York, Ont., that doesn’t mean the vaccine will necessarily have an adverse effect on all older adults. Each individual has to weigh the risks involved, he says. In some situations, a doctor may write a special letter for patients who are concerned that the side effects of a vaccine might be too risky.
You will be required to pay for most travel shots out of pocket, except for the scheduled immunizations covered by provincial health plans. Costs vary widely and may be covered by your insurance plan, according to Wise. A series of comprehensive vaccines for an extended stay in a high-risk country — by a Red Cross worker planning to spend a year in Sudan, for instance — could cost $1,000.
Healthy travel doesn’t stop at vaccinations, however. Says Wise: “Shots are the easiest thing to do.” Paying attention to food and water to prevent the dreaded traveller’s diarrhea, and being aware of such risks as motion and altitude sickness, can go a long way toward ensuring healthy travel.
Here’s a checklist to help you prepare for your next big trip:
> Schedule an appointment with a doctor at least a month before your departure.
> Research your destination, using resources such as the Public Health Agency of Canada (www.phac-aspc.gc.ca), Health Canada (www.hc-sc.gc.ca) and travel clinic sites.
> Organize your first-aid kit. It should include everything you usually use from your medicine cabinet, plus a few extras such as water-purification tablets and rehydration salts.
> When you get to your destination, continue to take whatever medication your doctor has prescribed.
> Make an effort to avoid exposure to contaminated food and water. Even showers can be risky if water gets into your mouth.
> Know what parasites are prevalent, and take precautions, such as avoiding walking in bare feet (in certain areas of the Caribbean), avoiding swimming in certain freshwater areas and shaking out towels and clothing where disease-carrying insects or animals could lurk (Central America). IE