Trip Helpers : Health

Sickness or injury can ruin a trip. Diarrhoea, flu, just any time in bed with illness is horrid when you are in a foreign country. All you want is your own bed and comforts, but the hostel bed with a toilet down the hall can seem like a living hell.

But everyone gets ill sometime and there's very little you can do once it strikes. So the aim here is to get healthy again quickly, and the good news is that with a little action you can be well prepared to achieve this.

Disclaimer :
 The information described here is not provided by a doctor or other medical professional.  Always seek the advice of your doctor in relation to all matters concerning health. The information here is provided by a lay person with zero medical experience and is provided "as is".  If you are to use this advice it is entirely at your own  risk.

First Aid KitMosquito & Insect BitesInjectionsMalaria

Mosquito & Insect Bites

It's not just mosquitoes, it might be other insects (ants being a favourite), but either way, getting bit, at it's best can be uncomfortable and at it's worse can lead to very serious problems - just see the Malaria tab above for details of a potentially fatal disease.  But I don't want to scare with horror stories, I want you to be prepared to fight the mozzies and alike. To do so I recommend you take the following :

Mosquito \ Insect Repellent

Be proactive and spray yourself with repellent before you go out. Products containing 'deet' seem to be highly rated, so if you haven't already, try one of these.

A  bug repellent with 100% deet is available to buy from Walkabout Travel Gear*

Bite Relief Cream

If the insect monster has got you then apply cream to sooth swelling and itching. Antihistamine is a common ingredient with these creams, so if this is promoted on the bottle then it should help with the relief.

Bite Cooling Pen

Pen shaped, so small and handy to carry. These offer different ingredients (often high in Ammonia)  to the creams so depending on the type of bite they can really make a difference by cooling and soothing the infected area.

Cover Up

This is easy to do, yet often forgotten. Wear long sleeve shirts and long trousers and you make it harder for mosquitoes to reach your skin and bite you. Sunset and sunrise is the prime time to get bit and as the lack of sun tends to keep the temperature down, it makes it less of an issue to wear such clothes.

Allergy Tablets (like the brand Piriton)

If bites simply come and go on you then you probably don't need this. However, if like me, some bites cause a reaction, become inflamed and grow much larger than normal, then you may want to take some allergy tablets with you. Allergy tablets can help to contain a bite and prevent it from reaching that nasty stage.

Allergy tablets can help to contain a bite and prevent it from reaching that nasty stage.

Some Unproven Alternative Remedies

Some advice regarding mosquito bites isn't particularly scientific and isn't guaranteed to work for everyone. It may be an old wifes tale or a high tech solution, but I think it best to let you the reader decide, so here are a few unproven tips to help deter the insects :

 

  • Avoid perfumes and other smelling deodorants. Apparently this is appealing to the insect world, so it's best not to wear them.
     
  • Avoid sweet alcoholic drinks. Having sweet drinks (like Bacardi) in your system can also make you more attractive to mosquitoes, allegedly.
     
  • Take Vitamin B tablets. I was told in good faith that taking vitamin B tablets can help prevent you from getting bit. Apparently having the recommended daily amount of Vitamin B in your system makes you less tasty to mosquitoes. And you have to take them before you reach your destination so that your body is fully loaded. If you are going to try this, then you may as well use a multi vitamin tablets, as these often contain the same amount of the B vitamins as those found purely in vitamin B complexes.
     
  • Are you one of those people who doesn't feel the cold and is generally quite warm? Well apparently mosquitoes love you. Now again, this isn't scientific, but apparently those of us with a warmer body temperature tend to get bit more than those of us that feel the cold and generally run a few degrees cooler. Not that you can change this, it's just bizarre! 
     
  • Use an electronic keychain zapper. These are typically called "Digital Mosquito Repeller Keychain"  or  "Frequency Hopping Ultrasonic Mosquito Repeller Keychain".  These appear to work for some people and are reasonable priced, typically less than $5 USD, so it's probably worth buying a couple and seeing if they'll work for you.

 

I'd recommend to put the bold items from the first list in your first aid kit, as for the others, they could be total balderdash. But if you happen to try an alternative remedy and it works, then great, because less bites is always a good thing.

For an abridged printer friendly list of the first aid kit items, complete with bite remedies, please visit The Check Lists .