Happy Spring! Travel season is among us and staying healthy while traveling is difficult to achieve with the change of location, culture, food, and consistent on-the-go sightseeing.

Spring and summer weather is the perfect time to travel abroad. When you leave the country, it is important to take safety precautions, consider health travel tips and best practices, and maintain a healthy immune system to fully enjoy your getaway.

The next time you travel abroad keep these health travel tips in mind:

• Vaccines: There are certain vaccines you need before traveling to some countries to make sure you do not contract that disease as well as bring it back to the United States. This includes: Typhoid and Yellow Fever, which are not common in the U.S., but are prevalent in African and South American countries. Make sure you are also up-to-date on Tetanus, Hepatitis A, and Hepatitis B.

• Eat and Drink Safely: Avoid any undercooked foods and local water sources. Make sure your water is bottled, not tap water, including the ice in your drinks. Contaminated water is a source for intestinal bacteria and parasites.

• Prevent Bug Bites: Use insect repellent, particularly DEET, which has been shown to be effective against ticks. Ticks and mosquitoes transmit diseases like Lyme and Malaria. Wear protective clothing and keep in mind the peak hours of exposure and location that you visit. Grass and vegetated areas may have higher amounts of bugs, and dawn and dusk times are when most insects are active. Bed nets, in some environments can also be helpful and protect you from insects.

• Stay Safe Outdoors: Make sure you wear loose clothing in the heat and warm clothing in colder climates. If swimming, make sure you do not swallow the water, as it could be contaminated. Make sure you apply sunscreen if exposed to the sun for long periods of time (SPF 15 or higher with UVA + UVB protection).

• Avoid Animals: If handling animals, make sure you let your physician know. There are certain vaccines and illnesses only transmitted by direct contact with animals, like rabies.

• Avoid Germs: Practice good hand hygiene and make sure you cough or sneeze into your sleeve if you are sick to prevent others from getting sick. Germ prevention practices also include washing your hands regularly when out exploring in public to avoid catching a virus.

• Avoid Contact with Bodily Fluids: This includes sexual activity. Make sure you use condoms with any new sexual partners. Avoid injecting drugs, and limit alcohol use. And definitely avoid getting tattoos or anything that involves needles. This is to avoid getting HIV, Hepatitis B, and Hepatitis C. 

• How to Seek Medical Care: Have a plan on how to seek medical care should you need it while traveling abroad. This includes any supplemental travel health insurance or getting extra prescriptions from your doctor to last throughout your trip.

• Select Safe Transportation: According to the CDC, motor vehicle crashes are the #1 killer of healthy US citizens in foreign countries. When renting or utilizing a motorized vehicle in a foreign country take the necessary safety precautions prior to getting on the road. Don’t drive impaired or under the influence.

• Make a Travel Kit: As an emergency and simple safety net — the best travel health tip is to create a travel kit which includes: medications, injectables, and supplied to prevent illness or injury — and be sure to always bring this along when you pack your bags.

  More info on what to pack from the CDC: https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/yellowbook/2018/the-pre-travel-consultation/travel-health-kits

The CDC is the best resource for finding out travel health tips, what you need for traveling, and how to stay healthy — other than your doctor.

Here is the link: https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel. As always, consult with your primary physician before making any travel plans to ensure you are in perfect health to travel.

Bon Voyage!

About the Author

Lucy Pun is a board-certified family physician offering direct primary care, as it allows her to develop valuable relationships and spend quality time with her patients. Passionate about education, empowerment of individual patient needs, and general medicine, she continually pursues helping individuals be in charge of their own health. With a history of being the medical caretaker of her family and working in child development previous to residency, she enjoys assisting patients of all ages.

Lucy received her medical degree from Western University of Health Sciences and completed her residency at PIH Health Hospital in Downey. As a board-certified physician in Family Medicine, Lucy prides herself in providing the best care to every patient she meets.