Protect Yourself Against These Four Tropical Diseases

Who doesn���t love vacationing in the tropics? Wonderful weather and scenic sunsets make the tropics ripe for tourism, but keep in mind the tropic region is also home to many debilitating diseases. Be smart about your trip and do a little research into prevalent diseases and what you can do to protect yourself. Here are four diseases to think about if you are traveling to a tropical country.

Typhoid fever
Typhoid fever can be transmitted when an infected person���s feces contaminate food or water supply. Therefore, the best way to avoid contracting this disease is by monitoring your water and food. You should wash your hands frequently and drink bottled beverages. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that typhoid fever affects over 21 million people every year. It is prevalent in developing countries in Africa, South America, Southeast Asia and India. Two vaccines are currently available: one injected in a single dose and one taken orally over a few days.

Cholera
Cholera, like typhoid, is typically transmitted through water contaminated by the feces of an infected person. It produces terrible diarrhea and vomiting, which can lead to excessive dehydration and even death. In order to avoid this fate, wash your hands often, use bottled water for drinking and brushing your teeth and eat hot meals. Cholera is common in�� Angola, the Congo and Zimbabwe, as well as sections of eastern Asia.

Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis is a potentially deadly lung disease most common in close-living settlements in China, India and many countries in Africa. It is spread through the air by way of coughing and sneezing. In many high-risk parts of the world, infants are vaccinated with bacillus Calmette-Guerin. However, this isn���t administered to adults from the United States because it isn���t as effective in adults and could produce false-positive TB results, according to the Mayo Clinic. To avoid this disease, avoid extended periods of time in enclosed areas with people who have active TB.

Malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne disease that claims 881,000 deaths each year, reports Roll Back Malaria. The countries with the highest malaria deaths are Nigeria, the Congo, Uganda, Ethiopia and Tanzania. If traveling to high-risk malaria countries, you should take the following precautions to prevent this disease. Spray your home with insecticide, sleep under a bed net, cover your skin during active mosquito times and apply protective spray to your clothing and skin. Medical researchers are developing a vaccine for this fatal disease.