Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
disinfectedbywashing.Evensoakingfoodinstrongchlorinesolutionsdoesnoteffectively
eliminate all bacteria.
All other foods must be assumed to be dangerous, particularly custards, cakes, bread,
cold meats, cheeses, and other dairy products. Milk is a potential source of tuberculosis.
Bottled carbonated drinks—water, sodas, and beer—are generally safe, but infections have
resultedfromdrinkingbottledwaterthatisnotcarbonated,whichoccasionallyhasnoteven
been disinfected. Ice, even that served in airport lounges, is often made from undisinfected
water.
Sites forgarbage disposal and latrines should be downstream, downhill, downwind, and
as far as possible from water sources. However, latrines that are too far away are not used,
which can make campsites unpleasant and unsafe. Local inhabitants often must be instruc-
tedtouselatrines. Developing Southeast Asiancountries sufferepidemics ofcholera atthe
beginning of each monsoon season because rain washes human feces from the streets into
the streams that serve as the water supply.
ARTHROPOD AVOIDANCE
Insects can be avoided by wearing appropriate clothing, applying insect repellents to skin,
and applying insecticides to clothing. Currently the recommended method for avoiding in-
sect bites is to apply one of the two effective insect repellents to exposed skin and to apply
the insecticide permethrin to clothing.
Clothing
Clothing that forms an effective barrier to insects should be loose fitting. Mosquitoes
can bite through snugly fitting clothing. The clothing should be light colored because dark
colors tend to attract insects. Shirts should have long sleeves; pants should have long legs
that can be tucked into socks or bound with gaiters to block access by ticks.
Broad-brimmed hats protect the head and can support mosquito netting that blocks out
mosquitoes and stinging insects such as bees and wasps. In tropical areas beds should be
coveredbymosquitonettingthathasbeentreatedwithpermethrin.Tentsshouldhavemos-
quito netting at all entrances.
Insect Repellents
The only two conventional insect repellents currently recommended by the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are products containing DEET—N, N-diethyl-m-
toluamideorN,N-diethyl-3-methyl-benzamide—andproductscontainingpicaridin—KBR
3023, or 2-(2-hydroxyethyl)-1-piperidinecarboxylic acid 1-methylpropyl ester. DEET was
developed for military use in 1946 and became generally available worldwide in 1957.
Despite its age, nothing comparable was developed until picaridin was introduced in the
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