Travel Health (cont.)
Post-Travel Care
Most travelers return home in good health with a few souvenirs and lasting memories. But if you've been ill, especially while traveling to regions where disease is prevalent, or if you develop symptoms after you return, you may have brought more than just handicrafts home with you.
Many diseases do not show up right away. Some take weeks to months to develop. For example, 90% of travelers who get malaria do not become ill until after they return home.3 If you become ill with a fever or flu-like illness while traveling or up to 6 months after returning home, see your doctor. Tell your doctor the regions you visited and about any exposure to disease.
The returned traveler should be aware of other symptoms besides a fever. You should see your doctor if you have persistent or intermittent diarrhea, a skin rash or sores, jaundice (typically most noticeable when the whites of the eyes appear yellow), unexplained weight loss, shortness of breath, or fatigue.
If you have been healthy during your trip and feel well when you return home, you probably don't need to see a doctor.
Other Places To Get Help
Organizations
| American Academy of Family Physicians |
| P.O. Box 11210 |
| Shawnee Mission, KS 66207-1210 |
| Web Address: | www.familydoctor.org |
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The American Academy of Family Physicians offers information on adult and child health conditions and healthy living. Its Web site has topics on medicines, doctor visits, physical and mental health issues, parenting, and more. |
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| American College of Sports Medicine |
| 401 West Michigan Street |
| Indianapolis, IN 46202-3233 |
| Phone: |
(317) 637-9200, ext. 127 or 133 |
| Email: | EIM@acsm.org |
| Web Address: | www.acsm.org/AM/AMTemplate.cfm?Section=About_ACSM&TEMPLATE=/CM/HTMLDisplay.cfm&CONTENTID=13719 |
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The American College of Sports Medicine Task Force on Healthy Air Travel promotes exercise and physical activities that can be done while taking an airplane trip. They provide information about: - Ways you can exercise while at U.S. airports.
- Strategies to reduce the impact of jet lag.
- Methods to improve your health through physical activity and good nutrition while flying.
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| Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Travelers' Health |
| 1600 Clifton Road |
| Atlanta, GA 30333 |
| Phone: | 1-800-CDC-INFO (1-800-232-4636) |
| TDD: | 1-888-232-6348 |
| Email: | cdcinfo@cdc.gov |
| Web Address: | wwwn.cdc.gov/travel |
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The CDC's Travelers' Health Web site provides health information for the traveler. The Web site provides information on immunizations that are needed for travel to various areas of the world. It also provides information for safe travel, including traveling with children and with people who have special needs. Information about current outbreaks of disease in the world is also provided. The CDC is the leading federal agency for protecting U.S. citizens' health and safety by providing credible health information and health promotion. |
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| International Association for Medical Assistance to Travellers |
| 1623 Military Road |
| Suite 279 |
| Niagara Falls, NY 14304-1745 |
| Phone: | (716) 754-4883 |
| Web Address: | www.iamat.org |
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The International Association for Medical Assistance to Travellers (IAMAT) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to travel health. IAMAT can help you plan a healthy trip and help you find a qualified doctor if you have a medical emergency on your trip. Their goal is to prevent the spread of infectious diseases by international travelers. |
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| International Society of Travel Medicine |
| 2386 Clower Street |
| Suite A-102 |
| Snellville, GA 30078 |
| Phone: | (770) 736-7060 |
| Fax: | (770) 736-0313 |
| Email: | istm@istm.org |
| Web Address: | www.istm.org |
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The International Society of Travel Medicine (ISTM) provides education, service, and research in the field of travel medicine. ISTM focuses on preventive and curative medicine, infectious diseases, high altitude physiology, and travel-related obstetrics. Two other areas of focus are military medicine and migration medicine. ISTM's goals are to promote travel health, develop guidelines for travel medicine, and educate health professionals and people who work in the travel industry. ISTM's Web site has a travel clinic directory where travelers can search for a travel clinic near them. |
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| National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), National Institutes of Health |
| NIAID Office of Communications and Government Relations |
| 6610 Rockledge Drive, MSC 6612 |
| Bethesda, MD 20892-6612 |
| Phone: | 1-866-284-4107 toll-free |
| Phone: | (301) 496-5717 |
| Fax: | (301) 402-3573 |
| TDD: | 1-800-877-8339 |
| Web Address: | www.niaid.nih.gov |
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The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases conducts research and provides consumer information on infectious and immune-system-related diseases. |
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| World Health Organization |
| Avenue Appia 20 |
| 1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland |
| Email: | info@who.int |
| Web Address: | www.who.int/en |
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The World Health Organization (WHO) is an agency of the United Nations. It has about 200 member states. WHO promotes technical cooperation among nations on health issues, carries out programs to control and eliminate disease, and strives to improve the quality of human life. The Web site has information on many health topics, including health and disease related to travel. |
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