Local doctor gives traveler health advice | News, Sports, Jobs

News photo by Mike Gonzalez The travel agency within AAA Alpena on US-23 is shown Wednesday. Currently, there are no employees working in this department in Alpena, but employees in the insurance office will transfer you to the travel agent in another office.

ALPENA — As spring break draws ever closer, students, families and individuals are preparing to travel to warmer locations, with some people heading out of the country.

Traveling to foreign countries can potentially lead to illnesses, diseases, and many other things that the body may not be used to.

“The most common illnesses people get while traveling are respiratory illnesses,” said Dr. Josh Meyerson, medical director of District Health Department No. 4. “You can do this by simply washing your hands regularly, which can help reduce the risk of developing respiratory and gastrointestinal infections.”

Meyerson said some places, especially developing countries, could have water and food problems.

He said traveler’s diarrhea is a common illness when consuming contaminated food or water.

“If water sources are unsafe, you should just drink bottled water and avoid ice, because ice can be made from unsafe water,” Meyerson said. “Even if you get a… soda in a can, but you pour it over ice, that can also be a problem. If you eat fully cooked foods or eat fresh fruit, you want to be able to wash or peel them. Otherwise, it could make you sick.

Another thing Meyerson recommends is to protect the body from insect bites and sunburn.

Sunscreen will protect the body from burns, but it is crucial to protect the skin from mosquito bites and other insects to prevent any illnesses from entering the body system.

“If you go to a tropical area to escape winter, bites from mosquitoes and other insects can spread diseases like malaria, yellow fever, chikungunya, dengue fever and Lyme disease,” said Meyerson. “Using protection against insect bites can prevent you from getting sick.”

Other areas that travelers should consider are things like vaccination.

To search for a specific country to see if there are warnings about current outbreaks, Meyerson said the Center for Disease Control and Prevention has a travel site that can help people get health advisories for a country.

The cdc.gov/travel website also has vaccinations that travelers are recommended to have up to date, such as chickenpox, flu, polio, shingles, and more.

“There are always steps you can try to take when traveling that can reduce the risk of getting sick while on vacation,” Meyerson said. “People heading to more exotic locations will definitely want to consider what precautions they might need to take based on their location and the CDC’s Travel Health page has a lot of great information.”