Two Things You Can Do to Avoid Getting Ill When Travelling Abroad

Getting ill when you're travelling can spoil your entire holiday experience. Fortunately, there are things you can do to reduce your chances of getting sick during your trip. Read on to learn more.

Prioritise hygiene

The physical exhaustion that often accompanies long journeys can temporarily weaken your immune system and make you more susceptible to catching a cold, the flu or other infections that your body would normally be able to fight off.

This means that if you come into contact with bacteria or viruses by, for example, touching a contaminated door handle before you get onto the plane, and you then proceed to use your hands to eat a sandwich during your flight, you could end up ingesting some harmful pathogens and coming down with food poisoning or the flu within a matter of hours.

As such, it is important to be scrupulous when it comes to hand hygiene. This is easier said than done when you're travelling, as there isn't always a nearby bathroom where you can wash your hands before you eat.

The solution to this is to pack several travel-sized bottles of hand sanitiser in your luggage and to reapply this gel regularly throughout the course of your journey. Additionally, it might be worth packing some antibacterial wipes so that you quickly and easily can sanitise the surfaces on which you intend to eat or wipe down your phone before it comes into contact with your face.

Get vaccinated if necessary

There are certain countries in which you are more likely to be infected with diseases such as hepatitis A and B, rabies and meningococcal disease. These are serious conditions which, if contracted, would not only ruin your travel experience but could also leave you with long-term, life-threatening health problems.

As such, it is essential to visit a travel doctor before you leave so that they can determine which vaccinations (if any) you will require. These vaccinations will encourage your body to produce antibodies that will fight off certain types of diseases.

You should book your appointment with this doctor at least a month before you are due to go away, as some vaccinations only begin to provide protection a few weeks after they have been injected into a person's system. If you wait until the last minute to have your travel doctor vaccinate you, you could still end up contracting a disease during your travels.