{"id":4777,"date":"2019-10-15T10:29:05","date_gmt":"2019-10-15T15:29:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/travelwriting\/?page_id=4777"},"modified":"2019-10-15T10:49:41","modified_gmt":"2019-10-15T15:49:41","slug":"traveling-to-mexico-and-central-america-staying-healthy-while-abroad","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/travelwriting\/?page_id=4777","title":{"rendered":"Traveling to Mexico and Central America: Staying healthy while abroad"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Posted October\n15, 2019<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By NAOMI\nFEINSTEIN<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stranded in his hotel in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, with a 100.2-degree fever and a stomach ache\u2014 Ben Ehrlich, 28, a tourist from New York City, thinks to himself, “How do I find the nearest urgent care or even a pharmacy to buy Dayquil? I don\u2019t speak or read Spanish.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Panicking, he soon realizes that he is in rural Mexico with a rising crime rate, unable to find readily accessible medical care. Ultimately, the hotel did find a physician to help Ehrlich, but it was a scary situation that he should have prepared for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the \u201cInternational Travel Medicine Health Guide\u201d by travel medicine practitioners Drs. Stuart Rose and Jay Keystone, \u201cOut of over 30 million Americans who go abroad each year, approximately eight million go to less developed countries where the incidences of tropical and infectious diseases are often high. Up to 65 percent of travelers to the less developed world self-report a health problem during their trip.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thus, it is possible one may\nencounter a health-related issue when traveling to less-developed countries\nlike Mexico and parts of Central America. Everyone\u2019s worst fear is getting sick\nin an unfamiliar, mildly dangerous and underdeveloped country, but there are\nways to prepare if such a situation arises. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prior to embarking on vacation,\nmake sure to head to your primary physician to speak about your upcoming travel\nplans as each traveler may have a unique health situation. For instance, if one\nis heading to a more rural area of the country, it is highly encouraged that\nthey speak to their doctor to discuss potential vaccinations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c[Individuals] should schedule a travel medicine appointment at least six weeks prior to travel. Please be sure to bring your travel itinerary and vaccination records to your appointment,\u201d said a physician at the Student Health Service who asked to remain unnamed. \u201cThey should also be sure to review their health insurance plan and understand what medical services will be covered abroad.\u00a0 In the case of an emergency, travelers should carry a card that identifies, in the local language, their blood type, chronic conditions, allergies and any medications they take.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In any travel situation, it is most\nimportant that every traveler in the group has all of their\nvaccinations-up-to-date because even traveling through an airport and on\nairplane increase the risk of contracting an illness or just a common-cold. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWith travel, travelers should have\ntheir adult immunizations up to date. You are at an increased risk \u2013 you\u2019re on\nan airplane getting there as much risk as ever getting influenza,\u201d said Dr.\nGordon Dickinson, an infectious disease specialist from Miami. \u201cIf you are an\nolder person, you should have your pneumonia vaccines. Typhoid fever would be a\nuniversal one that people should get, and you should be vaccinated against Hepatitis\nA.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although one may have all have\ntheir regular immunizations, there may be an outbreak of a disease in Mexico at\nthat particular time. Thus, travel advisories from the Centers for Disease\nControl and Prevention are important to keep an eye out for. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some countries also may require some immunizations to prevent travelers from introducing the infection to the native populations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe way the yellow fever vaccine\nworks is that there are few countries where there is yellow fever at this time\nbut if you are going on to other countries and some countries may require a\ntraveler have a yellow fever vaccine \u2013 they don\u2019t want it brought into the\ncountry,\u201d said Dickinson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As one begins to pack their\nbelongings for the upcoming voyage, the essentials include a passport, bathing\nsuits, flip-flops and sunscreen. However, most people forget to bring a\nfirst-aid kid. Traveling to a foreign country like Mexico or countries within\nCentral America, commonly used medicines in the United States may not be\noffered or may be difficult to retrieve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTravelers should bring any prescription or over-the-counter medications they feel they may need while abroad,\u201d said the doctor at the Student Health Service who asked to be unnamed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, when arriving to Mexico, it is imperative that one buys cases of bottled water because it can be very dangerous to drink tap-water. The biggest risk of contracting a disease or infection is from drinking unpurified water. Mexico\u2019s drinking water, in particular, is known for its high risk of carrying water-borne diseases or infections. When eating in a restaurant and the waiter offers water, make sure to ask for bottled water. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \u201cThe water that one consumes should be bottled\nwater or water you know that has been processed because otherwise you cannot be\nsure about the water, Dickinson said. \u201cOne must be very careful about drinking\nsurface water, water from little creeks, springs \u2013 they carry a risk. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In terms of food, it is highly\nadvised to avoid eating lettuce or vegetables from an unfamiliar restaurant due\nto the risk of the produce being washed with contaminated water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen I was visiting Jalisco,\nMexico, with my family, my dad and I both got lettuce on our tacos, which we\ndidn\u2019t realize was a bad idea, but they were freshly washed and there was so\nmuch water on it that 40 minutes later we both had to stop and run back to the\nplace we were staying and we threw up for like an hour and a half each,\u201d said\nOlivia Goldin-Dubois, 20-year-old college student at UM and an experienced\ntraveler.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, most doctors tell\ntheir patients to not eat food from vendors in rural towns or off the side of\nthe road as it produces the highest health risk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs a rule of thumb for travelers,\nthe most dangerous food source are little places selling tamales on the street\nside or pop ups on the street side should be avoided because they have the\nlowest level of hygiene and highest level of risk,\u201d said Dickinson. \u201cThe next\nwould be little old canteens or marginal restaurants; the next would be regular\nrestaurants in the town you visit and then the hotel restaurants would be the\nsafest. What is considered the safest would be visit in a private home where\nyou are staying with relatives and friends.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One may be thinking, \u2018what happens\nif I happen to get sick in Mexico?\u2019 It may be an unsettling thought, but a\ncreating a plan of action and confirming the nearest hospital prior to\ndeparture is important in the event an illness or injury does arise. The travel\nclinic at UM\u2019s Student Health Service encourages students to find the\naccredited hospitals or clinics by the Joint Commission International closest\nto their hotel. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBefore you travel, you can check online about the medical services available, said Dickinson. \u201cGenerally, the best care will be in a metropolitan area and in most capitals, one can find good care. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Posted October 15, 2019 By NAOMI FEINSTEIN Stranded in his hotel in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, with a 100.2-degree fever and a stomach ache\u2014 Ben Ehrlich, 28, a tourist from New York City, thinks to himself, “How do I find … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":93,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"sidebar-page.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-4777","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/travelwriting\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4777","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/travelwriting\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/travelwriting\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/travelwriting\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/travelwriting\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4777"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/travelwriting\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4777\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4786,"href":"https:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/travelwriting\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4777\/revisions\/4786"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/travelwriting\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/93"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/travelwriting\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4777"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}