Health and safety forum

xontros,

I've just been to Vietnam and Laos, and have also been to SEA before and unfortunately I'm not one of the lucky ones like MADMAC and the mozzies do go for me!

Best thing is just to be sensible, don't worry yourself too much. You can use repellent with sunscreen, just remember to put on the sunscreen first! Try to wear trousers and long sleeves at night. When you're out there you can get clothes with really thin material so you shouldn't get too hot.

If you're going to be sitting outside at bars etc you could always take a coil with you, the smoke keeps them away. Depends how far you want to go. Even so you're still likely to pick up a few bites, but if you know you've been careful that's all you can do.

Alex

thanks guys
I m more at ease now

hey xontros,

here are a few tips i lifted from a Travelfish feature talking about pretty much this same topic. they are:

Listen to your Grandma -- An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. The best way to avoid being afflicted by malaria ((or other mosquito-borne diseased)) is to avoid being bitten by mosquitos and there are a number of simple steps one can take to dramatically reduce the chances of being bitten. These include:

a) Use a permethrin impregnated mosquito net
b) Use mosquito repellent containing DEET
c) Dress sensibly -- wear long pants and sleeves at dawn and dusk.
d) Use mosquito coils or other anti-mosquito devices (e.g.., citronella) as a secondary control.
e) If you are prone to being bitten, lean towards accommodation that can be sealed up -- air-con with no slatted windows nor open eaves.
f) Watch out for rooms with bucket showers/toilets. These tend to have buckets of stagnant water -- a mozzie's beach resort -- in the bathroom.
g) Don't sleep naked in a swamp.

i don't know about that last tip, but the others have helped me stay relatively bite-free in southeast Asia. dawn and dusk is definitely the time i've been attacked the most.

hope that helps. cheers.

hi Freespirit,

i can't take credit for my last post, as i was only cutting and pasting some advice from elsewhere on the website. i saw your warning above about day-biting mozzies, but didn't think i needed to repeat it. i imagine wearing mozzie spray during the day would adress that, don't you? but i'd definitely suggest taking extra precautions, like extra spray and covering up, including pants or something that covers ankles, around dawn and dusk.

sorry to hear about your case of chickungunya. hope you recover quickly. regards.

Deet is great for equipment, but should not be applied to the body in any kind of quantity. Bruce is absolutely correct here. It's good for coating mosquito netting, spraying on the externals of boots... not healthy as a repellent on skin.

eezi

You wrote "Can someone tell me which vacuums should I take for a trip to Thailand this year?.

I'm sorry, but I don't understand what you mean by 'vacuums'.

cheers

eezi

I don't know where you live, or what vaccines you have already been given. I'd suggest you go consult your own doctor.

The doctor will give you qualified medical advice.

Recently on Travelfish, another person made a post telling us what his/her doctor had recommended. The person listed the vaccines, etc., and asked for advice, it was freely given.

So, go see a doctor, and if in doubt list what the doctor suggested, and ask here.

Cheers

John

Was that a series of purple hearts...

Cheers