Travel Health

The return of health problems from the past - Holiday planning - Travel Health

We take a look at re-emerging diseases: illnesses that everyone thought had been practically wiped out. Scurvy, TB, rickets... some of the health problems we thought we'd seen the last of are making a comeback. Could you be at ris...

Summer bugging - Holiday planning - Travel Health

During the summer incidents of food poisoning double. E-coli might hit the headlines, but campylobacter causes the greatest number of cases of foodborne illness in the UK each year. We talk to hygienists about how to avoid getting food poiso...

Hepatitis B - Diseases - Travel Health

What is type hepatitis B? Hepatitis is the Greek term for liver inflammation. Hepatitis B is caused by a virus called hepatitis B virus (HBV). Other types of viral hepatitis include hepatitis A and hepatitis C. How do you catch hepatitis...

Diphtheria - Diseases - Travel Health

What is diphtheria? Diphtheria is an acute respiratory infection, or a skin infection (less common), that's caused by the diphtheria bacterium, Corynebacterium diphtheriae, and its toxin. This is a serious infection with a high mortality ra...

Cholera - Diseases - Travel Health

What is cholera Cholera is an infectious disease caused by a bacterial toxin that affects the absorption of water in the small intestine. In severe cases, it produces violent diarrhoea within only a few days. The dangerous aspect of choler...

The life cycle of the malarial parasite - Risks posed by wildlife - Travel Health

What is a malarial parasite? The malarial parasite lives as a parasite in mosquitos. The malarial parasite, Plasmodium, is a very small, single-cell blood organism, or 'protozoan'. It lives as a parasite in other organisms, na...

Yellow fever - Diseases - Travel Health

What is yellow fever? Yellow fever is a potentially fatal viral infection that's transmitted by mosquitoes in tropical regions. It has both an urban cycle and a jungle cycle that relies on monkeys as carriers ('sylvatic cycle'). In mil...

Snakes and snake bites - Risks posed by wildlife - Travel Health

Where can snakes be found? Snakes are found in most parts of the world, but only around 15 per cent of the 3000 or so different types of poisonous snakes that exist are regarded as posing a potential risk to humans. Most of these are to be...

Sleeping sickness - Risks posed by wildlife - Travel Health - Travel medicine

What is sleeping sickness? Sleeping sickness is also known as trypanosomiasis or African sleeping sickness. It's caused by a small parasite that leads to a serious infection in the brain and the meninges (the covering of the brain and...

Scorpions and spiders - Risks posed by wildlife - Travel Health

The majority of scorpions are harmless to humans. Exotic animal life is generally an attraction when travelling abroad, but some animals in particular have to be shown respect. Most people are afraid of snakes, but other smaller creepy...

Rabies - Risks posed by wildlife - Travel Health

What is rabies? In Europe rabies is mainly carried by the fox. Rabies, or 'hydrophobia', is known as a disease that makes dogs sick and mad. Consequently, all dogs in many northern European countries are vacc...

Preventing malaria - Risks posed by wildlife - Travel Health

Treated mosquito nets placed around your bed significantly reduce the risk of infection. Malaria is a serious disease, which in the worst case may be fatal. It's widespread in tropical and subtropical areas. From a global vie...

Malaria - Risks posed by wildlife - Travel Health

What is malaria? Malaria is a potentially fatal tropical disease that's caused by a parasite known as Plasmodium. It's spread through the bite of an infected female mosquito. The infected person may have feverish attacks, influenza-like...

Lyme disease (Borrelia) - Risks posed by wildlife - Travel Health

What is Lyme disease? Borrelia (Lyme disease) is caused by an infection resulting from a tick bite. The tick (shown above) often buries its head into the skin. Lyme disease is an infection that derives from a tick bi...

Japanese B encephalitis - Risks posed by wildlife - Travel Health

What is Japanese encephalitis? Japanese encephalitis is a viral disease, transmitted by mosquito bites. It causes serious inflammation of the brain, which may lead to permanent brain damage, and has a high mortality rate. But the grea...

Typhoid - Risks posed by wildlife - Travel Health

What is typhoid fever? Typhoid fever is an infectious feverish disease, with severe symptoms in the digestive system in the second phase of the illness. The French used to call the disease a 'boil of the intestine'. Classic typhoid fe...

Travellers' diarrhoea - Food risks - Travel Health

Causes of travellers' diarrhoea The most common cause of holiday or travellers' diarrhoea is the different types of virus and bacteria at the destination. The local drinking water in particular is an obvious source of risk in many place...

Hepatitis A - Food risks - Travel Health

What is hepatitis A? Hepatitis is the Greek term for liver inflammation. Hepatitis A is caused by hepatitis A virus (HAV). Viral hepatitis can be caused by many other viruses – including hepatitis B, C, D and E. How do you catch...

Amoebic dysentery - Food risks - Travel Health

What is amoebic dysentery? There are several different species of amoebae, but the most dangerous, such as Entamoeba histolytica, live predominantly in tropical areas. These species are able to burrow through the intestinal wall and spread throu...

Sun rash - Food risks - Travel Health

What is sun rash? For some people, exposure to the sun will result in a rash. Most of us enjoy the sun, but some people's skin can be very sensitive to the sun in spring and summer, especially those with pale skin and r...

Speed away from travel sickness: - General risks - Travel Health

Nothing heralds the start of the summer holidays so distinctly as a bout of travel sickness. According to a recent scientific study entitled 'Motors in Motion', by esure car insurance and Transport Research Laboratory (TRL), a third of children have ...

Safe in the sun - General risks - Travel Health

We all enjoy the sun, but how we react to its rays varies from one individual to another. The number of cases of skin cancer has doubled in the last 20 years. The Australians launched a successful campaign: 'Slip,Slop,Slap', to reduce s...

Jet lag - General risks - Travel Health

Anyone who's flown across the Atlantic or further afield will know the feelings of exhaustion that can overwhelm you on arrival. But why does jet lag happen and is there any way to minimise its effects? Don't nap: head for t...

Heatstroke - General risks - Travel Health

What is heatstroke? Heatstroke is a condition in which the body becomes overheated in a relatively short space of time. This can be a life-threatening condition, requiring urgent medical attention. Some soldiers on training have died fro...

Decompression sickness - General risks - Travel Health

Safe versus dangerous diving Make sure you attend a recognised diving school. Over the past 20 years diving has become extremely popular, both at home and abroad. But diving is not without its dangers. It's vital to attend a r...

Altitude sickness - General risks - Travel Health

What is altitude sickness? Altitude sickness is the name given to the physiological and symptomatic reactions of the human body to the low oxygen pressure ('thinner' air) that occurs at high altitude. It's also known as acute mountain sickn...

Avoid heatstroke this summer - General risks - Travel Health

As the temperature continues to rise, make sure you keep cool. It's forecast to be a long and hot summer, which means heat related-illnesses are likely to be on the increase. We look at the warning signs and how to keep cool over the holiday per...

Travel medicine - Holiday planning - Travel Health

Before you go, make sure you're aware of the potential dangers of your destination. Every year more than 30 million holiday and business trips are taken overseas by Britons, with no corner of th...

Pregnancy and travel - Holiday planning - Travel Health

People are now travelling more than ever before – both for pleasure and business. Many women, therefore, need to know where and how they can travel if they're pregnant or planning to become pregnant. In most cases, pregnant women...

First aid kit for travelling - Holiday planning - Travel Health

In alphabetical order, we take a look at what to include in your holiday first aid kit. But don't think you need to haul all these items along with you every time - there's a difference between a trip to Bangkok and a stay in Paris. Thi...