rssLeaving on a Jet Plane
Dengue fever in Mexico. Ciguatera fish poisoning in Jamaica. The travel health advisories come and go, but how does the prudent sun-seeker keep track? Well, according to one of Alberta’s travel medicine kahunas, Peace Country Health’s Dr. Albert de Villiers, your local public health nurse and travel clinic are crucial. Unlike the average general practitioner, says de Villiers, these front-line specialists are up to speed on the latest diseases affecting travellers worldwide.
Dr. Mark Wise, author of The Travel Doctor, echoes de Villiers’s advice. Most travellers, he says, aren’t aware of today’s increased risks of insect-borne illness in areas where such diseases were previously unknown. The basic common-sense precautions all travellers should take, says Wise, are to know the latest health risks in a particular region, to always use insect repellent and to ensure water sources are sterile and foods well-cooked.
For more on travel-related illnesses, as well as the location of the travel clinic nearest you, visit http://www.travelhealth.gc.ca/. For a guide to “all health concerns confronting today’s traveller”: The Travel Doctor (Firefly Books, 2002; $14.95, available at bookstores). Note that prescription medications should be carried on, versus being checked in luggage.
The Air Up There
According to Martin Hocking, environmental chemist and editor of Air Quality in Airplane Cabins and Similar Enclosed Spaces (Springer, 2005; U.S.$179, available at bookstores), it is a deflating fact that aircraft with full passenger loads provide the smallest volume of available air per person of any public space. Equally disturbing is the tendency for inflight air to be dry, heavily recirculated and, in the cold and flu season, loaded with viral nasties.
However, new aircraft are being made from stronger, lighter materials such as the carbon fibre composites that fashioned the 250-seat Boeing 787 Dreamliner (scheduled to enter service in 2008). Such materials make higher cabin pressures possible, which increases the availability of oxygen, says Hocking. It’s something he feels the flying public has been shortchanged on since airlines began cutting fresh-air intake as a cost-saving measure in the ’80s and ’90s.
The retired University of Victoria professor suggests that, until the Dreamliner generation of high-tech plastic birds takes flight, lung-conscious travellers should pack a non-medicated, water-based nasal lubricant to contend with low humidity and microbiotic traffic at altitude. “You can buy glycol-based products, such as Rhinaris, which help the tiny hairs in your nose sweep out foreign invaders, or you can fill a nasal mister with distilled water and use that.”
Red-Eye Reckoning
More than 90 per cent of long-distance travellers suffer from jet lag. The problem is serious enough that British Airways has hired snooze expert Dr. Chris Idzikowski (former chairman of the British Sleep Society) to find a cure – the first time an airline has commissioned such research. Idzikowski is currently investigating devices that block light as well as the best nap times for reducing symptoms.
In the meantime, a few coping strategies:
Remember, it takes one day per time zone crossed east to west to recover from jet lag; one and a half days per time zone when flying west to east.
While in flight, drink plenty of water and avoid alcohol.
Some globetrotters swear by herbal remedies such as No-Jet-Lag – chewable tablets that manufacturers claim promote sleep and reduce long-haul recovery time.
Abdominal Advice: Straight from the Gut
Montezuma’s revenge, gippy tummy, Delhi belly, Tandoori trots – call it what you like but having the runs ain’t cute. Not only does the condition make for an unpleasant holiday experience (affecting more than a million Canadian travellers in Mexico, Africa, Latin America, Asia, the Caribbean and the Middle East each year), it can cause permanent damage to the intestines and stomach lining.
On the upside: Health Canada recently approved Dukoral – the first and only drinkable vaccine that guards against traveller’s diarrhea (TD) caused by cholera and the nasty, and most common, TD culprit, Eschericha coli (ETEC). Two doses of this concoction provide three months of protection. With the vaccine registered in 13 countries and more than a million doses sold, it has been proven safe for seniors, adults and children over two.
Although this doesn’t mean you can freely indulge in the local cuisine if you want to avoid the Aztec two-step.
For more on immunizations and travel health, visit http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca.
