If you travel abroad, avoid contact with animals and food on the street
Aug 04, 2024
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Ha Young-eun, director of infection control at Bucheon Sejong Hospital, said, `First of all, the lack of a specific infectious disease in Korea means that Koreans have no immunity at all. Naturally, short-term visitors are more vulnerable to infection than locals, and there is a high risk of progressing to severe disease when an infectious disease occurs. "Due to the nature of travel, easy fatigue due to jet lag and long-distance travel is also a factor that makes them vulnerable to infectious diseases."
▶When traveling in Southeast Asia, Latin America, and Africa, prevention of malaria and hepatitis A is required
By region, subtropical regions have a high incidence of mosquito-borne infectious diseases such as malaria, Zika fever, dengue fever, and Japanese encephalitis. Areas with high water and sewage contamination rates or low sanitation levels across society should be careful of typhoid, hepatitis A, and cholera. Some regions, such as Madagascar and China's Mongolian Autonomous Region, have even been reported to have a plague epidemic.
Mainly, prevention of malaria, hepatitis A, tetanus, typhoid, and cholera is necessary when traveling to Southeast Asia, Latin America, and Africa. Among them, malaria is not vaccinated and should be taken for a fixed period of time before and after the travel period.
In particular, yellow fever vaccination is essential in most parts of Latin America and Africa. In the case of Islamic pilgrimage, meningoccal vaccination is required. Most vaccinations are immunized after 2 weeks, so it is better to get them at least 2 weeks in advance, but yellow fever vaccinations should be performed at least 10 days in advance because immunity is completed 10 days after inoculation.
Such vaccinations should take into account the travel area, the characteristics of the activities to be performed during the trip, the age of the traveler, the underlying disease, and the previous vaccination history. It is important to consult a doctor to make a decision because individuals do not know everything.
Director Ha Young-eun "Rather than deciding when to complete the vaccination immunity, I recommend that you take the vaccination through consultation with your doctor one to two months in advance when the trip is decided."Sometimes production of vaccination drugs may be stopped or out of stock, time may be needed to cope with adverse reactions that may occur after vaccination, and other preparations may cause you to miss your schedule before traveling."
▶Personal hygiene is the most important...Avoid contact with animals and food on the street
Self-hygiene is more important than anything else when traveling abroad, whether or not vaccinated.
Wash your hands frequently with water and soap, and if it is not possible, clean your hands with a portable hand sanitizer and disinfectant tissue. Wearing a mask is recommended to prevent respiratory infections in places where crowds are concentrated.
Water and food consumed locally should also be careful. It is better to eat food cooked as hygienically as possible and avoid raw (meat, fish) and street food. For water, drink bottled water from bottles sold by official registered companies, and if you can't, it's better to boil it.
Animal contact should also be avoided if possible. This is because not only wild animals but also domesticated animals can be carriers of various infectious diseases. It is recommended to avoid access to animal waste because it can also cause infection by inhalation in the air. If you are bitten or scratched by an animal, you should immediately wash the wound cleanly with water and soap on the spot and visit a local hospital to take preventive measures related to rabies and tetanus,
Ha Young-eun said, `When you go abroad, verbal communication is more difficult than anything else, and visiting medical institutions is more difficult than Korea. If you get sick during your trip, you will lose money in many ways," he said. "The first step to a healthy and enjoyable overseas trip is to familiarize yourself with basic precautions such as vaccination."
On the other hand, for other overseas travel infectious disease information, refer to the overseas travel infectious disease information page of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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