The Smart Travel Guide

Traveling abroad nowadays is made at an increased risk. Although staying at home is not the safest way of staying away from the flu, you should pay very much attention to some usfeul tips listed and detailed below if traveling to another country sharing the same medical issues. Most important is indentifying the symptoms of swine flu – Sore throat, cough, stuffy nose, chills, fever (greater than 100ºF), fatigue, headache, body aches, diarrhea, vomiting, a worsening of preexisting conditions, a wicked case of the unhuggables. Besides, do not travel unless it is absolutely necessary for you to do that. Don’t go just because you have made the reservation.

First of all, if you are sick – DO NOT LEAVE YOUR HOME. So, if you have any kind of symptoms that can lead to this kind of flu, you should not leave anywhere seven days after you get sick or for at least 24 hours after you stop having symptoms. There are few categories of persons that have to take into consideration the risks of the swine flu outbreak – women who are pregnant, adults older than 65, babies and children under 5 or people of all ages who have any chronic medical condition, such as asthma, diabetes, and heart disease or weak immune system suppression caused by medicines or by HIV. But first discuss with a doctor whether to take flu medication with you or not. However, USA has not introduced travel restrictions for healthy people yet because it is thought that this is not a means of preventing people from catching the swine flu.
Before and after your flight, you may be screened by having your temperature taken by a walk-by thermal scanner or thermometer. Although it is commonly believed that masks are a way of protecting against swine flu. A very important tip is to wash your hands with soap and water very frequently or use an alcohol-based hand rub. Even if you cleaned your hands, avoid touching your nose or mouth. However, these do not stand for the old-fashioned hand washing with soap and water. Do not cough when you are very close to somebody else and do not forget to use a tissue. Moreover, the seat back pocket in the plane is a very dirty and dangerous place so the crew always has to clean it in order to avoid catching a flu. In addition, hotels are also an unsafe place to stay in, but if there is nothing you can do, then avoid drinking from the glasses provided or eat breakfast from the bar because these are enviroments where germs spread rapidly. It is advisable to avoid sick people. Identify possible health resources at your destination such as hospitals and clinics.After coming back home, remeber that the average incubation period of Swine Flu is 48 hours, that is you can reasonably expect to see symptoms within 48 hours in case you have the virus. In case you do start to feel sick, then avoid unnecessary travel/contact, drink plenty of fluids, consult a physician, if you must come into contact with others, wear a surgical mask for their safety.

Tags: flu, hotels, plane, tips, traveling

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