Health and safety forum

christay2009

hahahahahahaha!!!!.

Be afraid, be VERY afraid

..... kaboomf... kaboomf... kaboomf... kaboomf... kaboomf... kaboomf... kaboomf... kaboomf...

LOOK OUT... It's the SE Asian MONSTER .... It'll get you, you can't get away...

kaboomf... kaboomf... kaboomf... kaboomf... kaboomf... kaboomf... kaboomf... kaboomf...

Once bitten, you'll get every disease known to the TRAVEL DOCTOR .... It'll get you, you can't get away... You're GONNER!!!!!/size].

- - - -

Alternatively...

There once was a very astute traveller. He decided to visit SE Asia. Knowing how Travelfish helps travellers in SE Asia, he decided to consult the Travelfish forum page on Travel health to learn what health related precautions may be necessary.

And, to double check what he'd learnt from Travelfish, this very astute traveller went to his GP to ask further.

The very astute traveller said to the GP "This is what I've learnt about travelhealth in SE Asia, is there anything that may be incorrect?.

The GP replied Gee, you've got your act together. Just a minute, I'll consult the Travel Doctor website to learn what they have to say!

....tic, tic, tic

Look at that, the Travel doctor website lists so many diseases. That can't be right. Everyone would be dead there if there were that many diseases. They must be just selling drugs. Maybe they are an agent of the drug companies.

Moral of the story?

If you run with hounds, you'll act like hounds.

decoded...

If you go to the agent of the drug companies, you'll get drug company advice.

Cheers

thanks for the help SBE/Somtam

Bruce...not sure how helpful your reply was :-) but appreciated nonetheless

over and out

christay

There are other posts here on Travelfish addressing the same issues you initially wrote about (go here).

So, I thought I'd take a novel approach. Apologies if it offended you.

Somtam (Stuart) must take a cautionary approach. He'd possibly be legally liable if he didn't.

I look at the risks, and the costs associated with each of the various risks.

If it wasn't for medical intervention, I'd have been dead long ago. In fact, my wife & I joke that I'm now on my 5th 'life' (ie. I've been diagnosed with 4 life taking events). My body has received more drugs/chemicals than most ordinarily receive. Given this, I am supportive of medical intervention - but only where necessary.

I have been to the Travel Doctor, and I have family members who have been to the Travel Doctor (here in Australia). Every example of Travel Doctor advice rests on the literature in the Travel Doctor website. I now realise that a GP is equally adept in reading a Travel Doctor website, and charges a lot less for so doing.

I also believe that the country specific travel warnings are too vague. For every country that has a travel warning, not all parts of that country are necessarily prone to the cited disease.

It is my view that the voluminous literature now needed to comprehend even minor medical complaints is such that a medical doctor either specialises such that they are intimately knowledgeable with the topic, or the medical doctor is a generalist who relies on advice published for the medical profession [eg. MIMS]. IMHO the generalist has now become captured by the information provided by drug/chemical companies, and so has become an agent for the drug/chemical companies.

In Australia, the drug companies regularly consult with GP's to give out goodies. In fact, a recent media expose showed one drug company gave out holidays, etc., to GP's who emphasise support for their product. The expose suggested the practice is widespread: despite the claims to the contrary by the drug companies.

My experience with the Travel Doctor is an example of an entity being captured by the drug/chemical company. In Australia the Travel Doctor is a company that employs medical practitioners just as a bank employs accountants, etc. These medical practitioners are there to promote the sale of drugs FULL STOP.

As you can see in my 'posts' elsewhere (go here), I do suggest taking a risk appropriate approach to (potential) disease management. Being a pincushion for drug company profit is not what I consider to be a risk appropriate approach. Nor is brandishing fear (as the Travel Doctor appears to do) a responsible approach to considering an appropriate risk management regime.

Cheers

buecax: the rabies shots don't "protect you" so much as give you more time to get further treatment -- ie if you've had the shots and get bitten by a rabid beastie you will still need a further shot (one I think but I'm not sure on that).

My advice may appear cautionary to some -- but it's certainly not dictated by legal issues. Rather it is born out of 12 years living in Southeast Asia -- a region of the world where many of these diseases remain all too common.

The most dangerous mosquito know to man has no vaccination or repellent. The southeast asia "bar girl".