Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
is then possible in specialist travel or infectious-disease clinics. If not treated the infection
can cause kidney failure or permanent bowel damage. It is not possible for you to directly
infect others.
Trypanosomiasis (Sleeping Sickness)
Spread via the bite of the tsetse fly. It causes a headache, fever and eventually coma.
There is an effective treatment.
Tuberculosis (TB)
Tuberculosis is spread through close respiratory contact and occasionally through infected
milk or milk products. BCG vaccination is recommended for those likely to be mixing
closely with the local population, although it gives only moderate protection against TB. It
is more important for long stays than for short-term stays. Inoculation with the BCG vac-
cine is not available in all countries. It is given routinely to many children in developing
countries. The vaccination causes a small permanent scar at the site of injection, and is
usually given in a specialist chest clinic. It is a live vaccine and should not be given to
pregnant women or immuno- compromised individuals.
TB can be asymptomatic, only being picked up on a routine chest X-ray. Alternatively,
it can cause a cough, weight loss or fever, sometimes months or even years after exposure.
Typhoid
This is spread through food or water contaminated by infected human faeces. The first
symptom is usually a fever or a pink rash on the abdomen. Sometimes septicaemia (blood
poisoning) can occur. A typhoid vaccine (typhim Vi, typherix) will give protection for
three years. In some countries, the oral vaccine Vivotif is also available. Antibiotics are
usually given as treatment and death is rare unless septicaemia occurs.
Yellow Fever
Zambia, Mozambique and Malawi all require you to carry a certificate of yellow-fever
vaccination only if you are arriving from an infected area (a requirement which is vigil-
antly enforced, and which includes travellers coming from Tanzania into Mozambique,
and applies also to those going from Zambia into South Africa). However, it is still often
requested at points of entry, and is recommended for almost all visitors by the
Centers for
Disease Control & Prevention
(
www.cdc.gov
).
Yellow fever is spread by infected mosquitoes. Symptoms range from a flu-like illness
to severe hepatitis (liver inflammation), jaundice and death. The yellow-fever vaccination
