Your health is your most precious capital
Most travellers do know the "Big Five": Malaria, Dengue, Cholera, Typhoid and Hepatitis and do have all routine immunizations. But there are lots of "small" diseases and injuries that can make your holiday trip a trip to hell.
|
For example, this skin infection started as small red dots itching a bit but was not taken too serious.
A first self diagnosis came to the result that it might be a fungal infection. A fungicide lotion was applied. But the infection grew serious and the help of a doctor was needed. Local doctors know local diseases best. A short visit at a doctor's in the next barangay showed up with an alarming result: Bacterial infection. The 7 days antibiotics treatment made completely disappear the infection. No traces can be found on the skin. Recommendation:Do not wait longer than 2 days when you catch a "small" disease. Ask for a local doctor and immediately look for a consultation. |
How to find a doctor |
|
Language hint:
Where is the doctor? Nasaan ho ang doktor?
I need a doctor who speaks English. Kailangan ko ho ng doktor na marunong mag-Inggles.
The second phrase can be necessary in regions where lots of natural-healers are considered to be a doctor, for example in Siguijor.
How to get a medicine |
|
Never buy a pill in a sari-sari! It could be your last pill.
Insect repellent
|
Insect repellents are your best protection against insect bites
and therefore insect transmitted diseases. Forget all the products you can buy back home, because they only make lough Philppine insects. Everywhere in the Philippines - supermarkets and drugstores - you can buy "OFF!". It exists in two forms: a creamy lotion and a spray. Both forms provide you with an excellent protection. Price (2007): PHP 65.00 (approx.) |
Our Prevention Recommendations
DO:
Do always drink directly from the bottle or can (straws are relatively clean, glasses are potentially dirty)Wash your hands often with soap and water or, if hands are not visibly soiled, use a waterless, alcohol-based hand rub to remove potentially infectious materials from your skin and help prevent disease transmission.
In developing countries, drink only bottled or boiled water, or carbonated (bubbly) drinks in cans or bottles. Avoid tap water, fountain drinks, and ice cubes. If this is not possible, learn how to make water safer to drink.
Take your malaria prevention medication before, during, and after travel, as directed. (See your health care provider for a prescription.)
To prevent fungal and parasitic infections, keep your skin clean and dry.
Always use latex condoms to reduce the risk of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases.
DO NOT:
Do not drink from glasses. and if you do so, never drink from a shared glass. (It is so kind to share a glass, but it is not fine to share hepatitis)Do not go barefoot, even on beaches.
Do not eat food purchased from street vendors unless you are sure that it is well cooked to reduce risk of infection (i.e., hepatitis A and typhoid fever).
Do not eat food in an eatery with a too great choice. They cannot sell all in a day and the next day it is infected.
Do not swim in fresh water to avoid exposure to certain water-borne diseases such as schistosomiasis.
Do not handle animals, especially monkeys, dogs, and cats, to avoid bites and serious diseases (including rabies and plague). Consider pre-exposure rabies vaccination if you might have extensive unprotected outdoor exposure in rural areas.
Do not share needles for tattoos, body piercing or injections to prevent infections such as HIV and hepatitis B.
Avoid poultry farms, bird markets, and other places where live poultry is raised or kept.
Official sources
For up to date information we recommend to visit these 3 sites:Philippines Department of Health (DOH)
World Health Organization (WHO)
Swiss Tropical Institute (STI)
The Big Five in the Philippines
Malaria
Malaria symptoms appear about 9 to 14 days after the infectious mosquito bite, although this varies with different plasmodium species. Typically, malaria produces fever, headache, vomiting and other flu-like symptoms. If drugs are not available for treatment or the parasites are resistant to them, the infection can progress rapidly to become life-threatening. Malaria can kill by infecting and destroying red blood cells (anaemia) and by clogging the capillaries that carry blood to the brain (cerebral malaria) or other vital organs.In the Philippines Malaria is known in the Mindanao, the Sulu and the Palawan archipelagos. But be aware that mosquitoes can be infected everywhere in the country. Mosquitoes do not only fly they also do use public transports such as airliners and ferries.
Dengue
Dengue fever is an acute febrile viral disease characterized by sudden onset, fever of 3-5 days, intense headache, myalgia, anthralgic retro-orbital pain, anorexia, GI disturbances and rash. Dengue viruses are flaviviruses. These viruses are also responsible for Dengue Haemorrhagic Fever (DHF). The viruses are transmitted to man by the bite of infective mosquitoes, mainly Aedesaegypti. The incubation period is 4-7 days (range 3-14 days). This disease is now endemic in most parts of the Philippines.Cholera
Cholera is an acute diarrhoeal disease caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. A person can become infected by drinking contaminated water or eating food contaminated by the bacterium. Common sources of infection are raw or poorly cooked seafood, raw fruit and vegetables, and other foods that have been contaminated during preparation or storage.Most episodes of cholera are mild. Persons who have been infected may have no symptoms or only mild diarrhoea. Others, however, develop very severe watery diarrhoea and vomiting. The loss of large amounts of fluids can rapidly lead to severe dehydration causing death - sometimes within three to four hours - if the patient is not adequately treated.
Between 1988 and 1998, outbreak of food and waterborne diseases in the Philippines ranks first (typhoid fever), second (cholera), fourth (food poisoning), sixth (hepatitis A) and eight (diarrhea).
Typhoid fever
Typhoid and paratyphoid fevers are caused by the bacteria Salmonella typhi and Salmonella paratyphi respectively. Typhoid and paratyphoid germs are passed in the faeces and urine of infected people. People become infected after eating food or drinking beverages that have been handled by a person who is infected or by drinking water that has been contaminated by sewage containing the bacteria. Once the bacteria enter the person’s body they multiply and spread from the intestines, into the bloodstream.Even after recovery from typhoid or paratyphoid, a small number of individuals (called carriers) continue to carry the bacteria. These people can be a source of infection for others. The transmission of typhoid and paratyphoid in less-industrialized countries may be due to contaminated food or water. In some countries, shellfish taken from sewage-contaminated beds is an important route of infection. Where water quality is high, and chlorinated water piped into the house is widely available, transmission is more likely to occur via food contaminated by carriers handling food.
Typhoid fever is endemic in the Philippines.
Hepatitis
Hepatitis is a liver disease caused by the hepatitis virus. Hepatitis can affect anyone. Hepatitis A can occur in situations ranging from isolated cases of disease to widespread epidemics.Good personal hygiene and proper sanitation can help prevent hepatitis A. Vaccines are also available for long-term prevention of hepatitis A virus infection in persons 12 months of age and older. Immune globulin is available for short-term prevention of hepatitis A virus infection in individuals of all ages.
All 5 types of Hepatitis (A through E) are endemic in the Philippines.