Some Common Diseases That Can Ruin Your Trip

With summer just around the corner, the traveling season is on. Everybody must have started planning their long summer trip to different destinations across the globe. You must also be planning to travel during your summer vacation with family and friends. But have you considered the diseases that you might get while traveling? Well, you should. Every place in the world has different geographical and topographical conditions, housing a number of unknown hosts to welcome you. And clearly, these hosts are not waiting to throw a welcome party at you.

While traveling, you can encounter a number of parasites and harmful organisms that can ruin your trip. In the year 2018, the World Health Organization came up with a list of diseases prevalent in particular regions around the world. The list contains air-borne diseases, vector-borne diseases, food-borne diseases, and the ones caused by having parasites in the body. Some of these diseases are pretty common and prevalent all over the world.

• Dengue

It is caused by the dengue virus. A mosquito-borne disease, dengue is pretty common in tropical and sub-tropical areas. The common symptoms of dengue include high fever, headaches, muscle pains, and joint pains. In severe cases, it could be life-threatening and may require hospital care. In case you have already been a victim of this disease once, you should take utmost care while traveling through tropical and sub-tropical areas.

• Malaria

This is also a mosquito-borne disease caused by a parasite belonging to the Plasmodium genus. It is a life-threatening disease. The common symptoms include chills, fever, and sweating usually occurring after a few days of the encounter with the parasite. Preventive vaccinations are advised before heading to the regions where malaria is pretty common.

• Cholera

An acute epidemic infection, cholera is caused by eating contaminated food or drinking contaminated water. The bacterium, Vibrio cholerae is the main culprit to be blamed for contaminating the sources of this disease. Cholera can lead to severe watery diarrhea, further leading to dehydration and sometimes even cause the death of the infected if untreated.

• Typhoid

Typhoid is caused by the Salmonella typhi bacteria. A nearly fatal disease, typhoid is a type of fever that can cause abdominal pains, headache, weakness, vomiting, and diarrhea. The bacteria grows in intestines and blood within humans. Commonly spread through consumption of contaminated water and food, this disease can be prevented by taking a few precautionary measures. These include getting vaccines, maintaining hygiene, and consuming filtered water and properly cooked food.

• Beaver-Fever

Another infectious disease spread through contaminated water sources, beaver fever is caused by a parasite called Giardia lamblia. The symptoms of this disease occur a little late or not at all in a few cases. When the symptoms begin to occur, they include diarrhea, vomiting, weight loss, and abdominal pains. Most of the cases of beaver fever clear up on their own but few severe ones may require medical care.

The most important thing to keep in mind while traveling to new locations is to maintain hygiene. Wash your hands thoroughly with soap before and after you eat or drink anything. Taking precautions is the only way to ensure good and uninterrupted fun on a trip.