Medical issues while on an an alternative abroad

Many third world countries have a variety of ailments that plague not only the local citizens, but the traveling tourists as well. Our best advice with Appleseed Expeditions is to check with the CDC (Center for Disease Control) before traveling on your alternative break abroad. Some countries deal with Malaria, Dengue Fever, Hepatitis, Cholera and a variety of other diseases. We also recommend that you contact your destination countries information website. If you email them and ask them about the regions you will be traveling to within their country, they should be able to tell you if there are any current medical warnings within those zones. For instance many of our student groups that travel with Appleseed Expeditions to Costa Rica journey to the central valley, La Fortuna, and Guanacaste, but never come near the southeast section near Panama Mentoring children
Mentoring children. This SE section of Costa Rica is known to have a few cases of Malaria annually. If you contact the Costa Rica tourist information website (Costa Rica information) they will tell you that the only region for Malaria and Dengue fever concern in Costa Rica is on the far eastern side of the country. If you are traveling to a high risk region, make sure you contact your doctor and specifically ask for medication that deals with the appropriate medical hazards before traveling to your destination.



When should I take Malaria medication?

We recommend that you should check with the CDC (Center for Disease Control). This organization will instruct you on medical precautions for the country that you are traveling to. Many countries like Brazil, Costa Rica, Colombia, Panama, Ecuador and others have occasional cases of malaria. Because of these limited number of cases the CDC recommends that you take anti-malaria medication before you travel to these nations. In saying this we recommend that you take your own precautions with taking anti-malarial medication. Our experience with Appleseed Expeditions is that only this type of medication is needed when traveling to the wet tropics. For instance when we have a group serving in the Amazon or on the wet Caribbean tropical forest side of Costa Rica, we recommend the taking this type of medication. Secondly, if you are going to take a cycle of anti-malarial pills, make sure you are done with the cycle before you travel on your international trip. From our experience we noticed that many students or travelers start taking anti-malarial pills right before going on their alternative break abroad. Because of the medication, their immune system is slightly compromised and susceptible to food born bacteria or other viruses from that specific country. We once had a group of 25 travelers and 11 people where sick with flu like symptoms from the food they had eaten in the city. We asked the group how many of them where on current anti-malarial medication. To our surprise 10 of the 11 students who where sick where taking a cycle of anti-malarial medication. The other 14 non-sick students had chosen to either not take malarial medication or had previously completed a cycle previous to coming on the trip. Our suggestion with Appleseed Expeditions is that you study your itinerary before you travel to your international destination. If you are going a low malarial case region then do not take a cycle of anti-malarial medication. However if you are traveling to a wet tropics region that has had cases of malaria within the last 6 months to a year, take the medication, but complete the cycle before traveling abroad.




Can eating the food abroad make me sick?

Yes if you do not take the appropriate precautions, eating abroad can make you sick. When traveling to third world nations, you should take certain precautions before eating the local food. From our experience over the last 20 years traveling to many third world nations with Appleseed Expeditions, we have discovered how to prevent getting sick from the food we eat while traveling abroad.


Here are a few suggestions;

1) Peel all fruit before consuming it. Bacteria can attach to the skin of many tropical fruits. Many of us have instinctively been taught to bite an apple or pear here in the United States and when a fruit looks bright fleshy and tropical, we want to eat it in the same manner. Be cautious, because as you eat the skin of the fruit you might be ingesting parasites or bacteria that will make your stomach ill.

2) Do not eat washed uncooked food. I know our first temptation would be to eat a fresh green salad made in a tropical country, but remember that these greens are usually washed in tap water. The water born bacteria or parasites can attach to the leafy greens and make your stomach ill.

3) Do not eat the street food. In many third world countries street vendors will be grilling chicken or tacos right out on the street. The smell is delightful and our first instinct is to try and taste this amazing cultural food. We have to remember that most of these street vendors do not take precautions with cleaning their hands or make efforts to keep the food fresh.

We have had groups in the past adhere to these precautions for the first part of their trip but then give into the delights of the street food. One student said he had not been sick all week and that he was going to try one of the frozen slushy drinks sold by a street vendor because they looked so amazing. He said that it would be worth he risk because of how delicious these drinks looked. He proceeded to enjoy this slushy drink and then four hours later he vomited through the night and returned home extremely dehydrated and ill.

With Appleseed Expeditions alternative break programs, we schedule restaurants for our groups that provide clean fresh food that is cooked to the highest standards. We do this so that our groups will have an enjoyable trip rather than going home and just remembering how ill they got while serving abroad.



What should I do if I get sick from the water or the food while traveling abroad?

Many people have asked me how to treat somebody once they have become ill from the food or water while traveling abroad. First of all I am not a doctor, so my recommendation comes from my personal experience not medical training. If you get sick while on an alternative break abroad you should seek medical attention from a local clinic. Most clinics in third world countries will treat you with some form of ant-bacterial medication. This medication may or may not work. Our advice after you have seen a local doctor and started your medication is to let your body take its natural course in expelling the illness. In doing so, make sure you are consuming lots of fluids, even if the fluids are being repeatedly being expelled. Your body will absorb some of the fluids that you take in. Do not take an anti-diarrheal pill unless absolutely necessary. Your body is trying to expel the bacteria or parasite on its own and clogging your intestines with this form of medication will slow the natural process and may prolong the sickness. A natural substitute that will help slow diarrhea is bananas. They coat the stomach and help with the body’s natural defense while providing much needed potassium. Once your body starts to feel better after about 24 hours, we recommend going on the BRAT diet (Bananas, Rice, Apples, and Toast). This type of diet is gentle on your intestines, coats your stomach and will help your digestion system. Try to stay on this type of diet for a minimum of 48 hours after you start to feel better.

On and Appleseed Expeditions alternative break we try to prevent these type of illnesses by training our travelers before they go on their trip abroad. Let us know if we can provide additional information to help you plan your trip. Feel free to contact us at info@appleseedexpeditions.com.