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Health was our main concern this time. We thought that the hazards were manageable (otherwise we would not have gone). Everybody was inoculated for Diphtheria, Tetanus, Polio, Typhus, Hepatitis A and B. As malaria prophylaxis we used Proguanil hydrochloride (Paludrine) during our stay. As a general precaution we took multivitamins every day. We trained our kids to wash their hands a lot more than we normally do (yeah we know you should always etc…, but sometimes these things just don’t happen). We even started brushing teeth out of a bottle before the last few weeks for the holiday.
In India we tried to keep a leisurely pace, building in a couple of hours of relaxing in the hotel room at teatime. Although we travelled quite a distance (about 2500 kilometres) we have the feeling that we took it easy. With the exception of Frank who was ill for a day, we were lucky as for the rest we didn't get ill. Some simple tips that worked for us:
· Drink bottled water (available everywhere).
· Use suntan Lotion (factors 30 and 15 (and sometimes 60))
· Keep your hands clean and don’t pick your nose (brings the bacteria straight into your system). Do not pick up stuff from the streets.
· Wash your hands before eating (or use disinfecting wet tissues; also good for cleaning feet after temple-visits).
· Keep nails short.
· Always put on hasty and sunglasses.
· Wear long or three quarter trousers (keeps knees whole)
· Wear long sleeves
· Wear sturdy shoes, no sandals. Check feet on cuts after temple visits and disinfect if necessary.
· Disinfect any cut or scratch as soon as possible
· Never eat anything from a stall / cooked in the streets. Stay away from buffet-style meals. Eat in busy restaurants.
· Donate small amounts of money to a Temple once in while and pray to the gods on a regular basis. Have Imodium ready anytime.
· Use mosquito repellent. For hotel rooms we bought and used the Bayer electrical mosquito coils.
Medical kit
During the day we always had suntan lotion (Vichy SPF 15 and 30; good stuff!!) and a medical kit in our day pack. The First Aid Kit was in a soft pack (‘Care plus’ brand from ‘tropenzorg’) with some additions of our own and contained:
· Hydrophilic bandages 300*8 cm and 400*8 cm
· Burn dressing
· Sterile compresses
· Antiseptic wipes
· Adhesive tape
· Protection gloves
· Emergency bandages
· Tweezers
· Safety pins
· Wound plaster
· Emergency shears
· Shatterproof thermometer
· Emergency blanket
· Support bandage
· Triangular sling
· Tick out tick remover
· Chloorhexidine 0,2 % antibacterial spray
In our luggage we had the following medicines available:
· Paracetamol with caffeine 500 mg (adults); the modern aspirin; helps against all kinds of pains (and hangovers)
· Paracetamol 160 mg (perdolan); chewing tablets for children
· Tripelennamine HCL (Azaron) relieves itches from mosquito bites etc.
· Multivitamins for adults and children
· Proguanil hydrochloride (Paludrine) Malaria prophylaxis
· Amoxicillin ; broad-spectrum antibiotic (Flemoxin : tablets solvable in water)
· Ciprofloxacin 500 mg (another antibiotic especially against heavy diarrhoea)
· Oral Rehydration Solution (adult and children; basically the same stuff, but the child variety has an added taste (still lousy)
· (Miconazoli nitras 2,5 mg zinc oxydium 150 mg pro gram) Anti fungal cream
· Loperamide HCL (Imodium)
· Xylometazolin (nasal spray; 0.1% for adults, 0,05 % for kids; opens up all cavities in your head; good against pressure differences in planes)
· Fluconazol 50 mg (against slime in the airways)
Full report at:
http://www.gourmetin...9266
Happy travels,
Hans
Edited by dhans, 04 July 2006 - 11:29 PM.
