Highlights
New Tetanus-Diptheria-Pertussis Booster
Travel is a good time to catch up on routine vaccinations, as well as special travel-oriented immunizations. If it is time for your tetanus booster, ask your doctor about the new tetanus-diptheria-pertussis (Tdap) vaccine.
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Pertussis (whooping cough) is included in the childhood tetanus-diptheria-pertussis vaccination series, but has not typically been included with adult tetanus-diptheria boosters. That has now changed. Due to the increasing rise of pertussis cases, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control now recommends that adults and adolescents receive the newly licensed Tdap vaccines.
Flu Shot
Consider getting a flu shot with your travel vaccinations. According to a report in Clinical Infectious Diseases, the flu is the most frequent vaccine-preventable infection among travelers to tropical and subtropical countries.
Traveler’s Diarrhea
- Escherichia coli (E. coli) is still the most common cause of traveler’s diarrhea, but noroviruses now rank second in countries such as Mexico and Guatemala. Travelers sometimes get sick with a combination of noroviruses and E. coli. E. coli is a bacterium that can be treated with antibiotics, but antibiotics have no effect on viruses. Drinking plenty of fluids and getting plenty of rest are the best treatments for norovirus-related diarrhea.
- Rifaximan (Xifaxan) is a relatively new antibiotic approved for treatment of traveler’s diarrhea caused by E. coli. Researchers are investigating whether it should be used for diarrhea prevention. In a study in the Annals of Internal Medicine, 15% of travelers who received preventive doses of rifaximin got traveler’s diarrhea, compared with 54% of travelers who received placebo.
- Due to concerns about antibiotic-resistant bacteria, preventive antibiotics are not generally recommended at this time. But ask your doctor for an antibiotic prescription for diarrhea treatment. Pepto-Bismol and loperamide (such as Imodium) are also good non-prescription treatments.
- The best diarrhea prevention is to be careful what you eat and drink.
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