Travel Health Guide - Protect yourself against Malaria

One of the most common questions travelers ask when going to tropical countries in Asia is whether they should take malaria medication. The fact is, there is no sole answer to the question – it really depends on where exactly you’re going and what you’ll be doing. For example, it would be sensible to take preventative malaria medication if you were planning a trek in Northern Thailand where it is close to the Myanmar border, while the same measures would be unnecessary for a trip to popular beach island, Phuket or Bali.

According to the WHO, preventing Malaria is as simple as ABCD. This is their prevention outline:

• Be Aware of the malarial risks you face in the country, the symptoms and the incubation period.
• Avoid being Bitten by mosquitoes, especially between dusk and dawn.
• Comply with appropriate prophylactic medication.
• Seek immediate Diagnosis and treatment if you are experiencing a fever one week or more in the country you’ve traveled to.

How should I prepare? Keeping in mind the WHO strategy as outlined above, protecting yourself against malaria is mostly about common sense. Here are some other tips:

• Strategize about what to pack. Since malaria is spread through mosquitoes, you can take simple measures to stop yourself being bitten, such as wearing long-sleeved and trouser-length clothes during the evening and using mosquito repellents and nets.
• If traveling to a high-risk area, prepare yourself accordingly (note that many high-risk areas will have strains of multi-drug resistant malaria so make sure you check with your doctor that you have the correct medication).
• Talk to your doctor openly about the real risks of contracting the disease in your travels. Remember that anti-malarials can be expensive, have nasty side effects and are not 100% effective so make sure you need to be taking them.
• Go to online forums to read about other traveler experiences with malaria-affected countries.

Where can I get more information? For fact sheets and a list of malaria-affected countries and preventative measures you can go also go to the Center for Disease Control.

Travel Health Guide - How to go through the long-hours flights

There were many times that I had a long-hours filghts which cause me stress, tired and sleepless. Fortunately, there are a number of things you can do to make such trips more comfortable and less stressful – here are some tips:

Dress Comfortably. Wear loose, and preferably, cotton clothes. You will be seated for an extended period of time in a confined space with temperatures fluctuating from hot to cold, so it’s best to be comfortable. Same goes for shoes. It’s common for our feet, hands and face to swell at high altitudes, so ladies, leave the heels behind.

Drink lots of water. Before the flight, and during your time in the air. The air is dry up there and dehydration is common. Try to abstain from alcoholic and diuretic beverages as these further dehydrate you.

Pack the right toiletries. Pack moisturizing lotion for your skin, bring balm for your lips and include eye drops in your carry-on bag. Moisturizing sleep masks are a popular choice for frequent flyers.

Stretch. Immobility combined with dehydration can cause deep vein thrombosis (DVT) – the forming of blood clots in the deep veins of your lower legs – which is associated with long distance flights. That’s why it’s important to adopt some simple exercises and keep your legs moving when airborne. Rotate the ankles, pointing the heel and toe alternatively and lift your knees whilst seated every half hour for a few minutes. Tense your leg muscles too and take a regular walk down the aisle to help circulation.

Take other preventative measures against DVT. Pack compression socks or hosiery that has been designed especially to prevent DVT. Take a low-dose aspirin (100-150 mg) before the flight, during the flight (check the dosage limits) and for 3 days after. Aspirin helps prevent the blood from clotting.

Delay your snooze. Rather than taking a kip immediately after the first meal and movie, try and keep your mind active for a few more hours. Prolonging the time until sleep will ensure that when you finally get some shut eye, the sleep will be heavier and longer.