General Travel Health Protection

Wildlife travellers to India should start with long-term basic health protection. This means vaccinations against Polio, Tetanus, Typhoid, Malaria, Cholera and Hepatitis A. Other vaccinations will depend on where you are going, local conditions at that time, and your anticipated environment.

Consult a health specialist or a travel advisory service and start early, a series of jabs may take up to six weeks to complete, so get on with it! Check with us for the latest news.

Food and Drink

Water:While in India avoid drinking or even brushing your teeth with tap water (particularly when you are on-board a train). Drink bottled water and check that the cap is securely sealed when you buy it. Turning it upside down and watching for drips is one method of checking. If you do buy it dispose it off properly.
If you can't buy it, sterilize it by boiling or dropping in purification tablets or iodine.
Do not take ice in your drinks, unless it is clearly frozen mineral water or boiled and filtered water.
Tea, coffee, soft drinks and booze are fine from a bacterial point of view, though not so fine from a dehydration standpoint.
Don't share water bottles with other travellers unless you want to share their bugs too.
Water filters are ok in theory but can break easily and usually don't filter some serious viruses, such as Hepatitis A and E.

Food: Avoid ice cream from dodgy sources, raw fish, food kept warm, salads and uncooked food - unless you can peel it or shell it yourself. Most cases of rampant diarrhoea come from unhygienic food, not unclean water. However in many resorts in India the vegetables would be farm fresh. Do not miss out on those opportunities.

Eating in local restaurants in developing countries:
1] Start acclimatising your intestines slowly. e.g. First day, don't eat street. Second day, try a small well-cooked snack. etc.

2] Eat where it's busy. This means that turnover is fast so fresh food has less chance to go off in a hot climate [with little or no refrigeration]. It also means that the food is good or cheap or both!

3] Generally speaking the South Indian food is simpler and less oily compared to North Indian food. Incase you are eating from road-side a simple way to be safe is to wash the plates with hot water.

Suffering Delhi - Belly?aka diarrhoea...If there is time, do the natural cure:
Drink a lot of clean water. For maximum absorption of water generally, add 1/2 a teaspoon of salt and 3 teaspoons of sugar to a litre [2 quarts] of water, and in the case of Delhi-belly double the salt and sugar levels. [Don't take salt tablets; they can cause stomach irritation and vomiting]. Don't eat for half a day at least, and then restart solids slowly, with plain, easily digested foods such as boiled, watery rice or plain bread. This will encourage your body to develop a stronger health defence system.

If you're in a hurry Lomotil or similar works well - but doesn't kill the bug; it just stops your insides turning to water every thirty minutes.

Altitude Sickness

Otherwise known as AMS, Acute Mountain Sickness it is possible to suffer from it if you are traveling to Tibet or Sikkim. The problem is lack of oxygen and is especially relevant to smokers and those with heart problems.

Symptoms:
Stage: dizziness, nausea, headaches, insomnia, breathlessness, and loss of appetite. Cure: rest, eat well, drink lots of water and don't ascend further. You'll be fine in a couple of days. probably.
Stage 2: dry cough, vomiting, confusion, loss of balance and co-ordination. Pulmonary oedema.

Cure: AMS comes on slowly - over a day or two days so descend! or see a doctor for medication.

Prevention:
a] ascend slowly e.g.. In the case of Tibet, go to Manali and walk around Lamadukh for 2/3 days before Barlachla or Taklangla.
b] get fit.
c] get a prescription for acetazolamide[diamox] and start taking it before the trip.
d] homoeopathic health advisors suggest taking aconite 6c to treat initial symptoms and arsenicum album 6c for further help. Both together is fine, x 4 per day, Amax 4 doses. An iron supplement, Floridax, and/or ginkgo biloba, taken daily for 2 weeks before travel are also supposed to help.

Insurance

It is sensible to buy insurance while you are traveling in India. It makes more sense to be careful. Unfortunately we cannot sell you insurance but we would be very happy to provide free and sensible advice on the same if you require that from us.

The Sun

A tan is a great thing to have but there is no point in lying around in the sun at midday in the tropics or subtropics. This will not only earn you a good chance in the melanoma lottery and add an unpleasant red highlight to your tan, but it will probably burn the tan off altogether after a few days
You will brown up more smoothly and lastingly by sunbathing [if you must] before 11am and after 3pm. And you may live longer too.
Don't go in the sun in the middle of the day, and be especially careful when swimming, snorkelling [wear a T shirt], motor-biking, and getting wrecked on the beach.
Force yourself to drink water, lots of it, if you want to avoid headaches and lethargy from dehydration. Contrary to popular opinion beer will have the opposite effect by dehydrating you even more. Also while on safari be careful about heat-stroke particularly in the middle of the day when prudence is to take the shade.
Water requirements in tropical environment are at least 12 glasses a day.
p.s. Recent research in the US suggests that skin care products containing AHAs [alpha hydroxy acids] increase the skin's sensitivity to sunlight in some cases, so be particularly careful about applying sun protection if there are AHAs in your choice of skin creams.

Malignant Melanoma signs:
- An existing mole is getting larger or a new one growing
- A mole has a ragged outline
- A mole has a mixture of brown/black colours Non-melanoma skin cancer signs:
- A new growth or sore does not heal within 4 weeks
- A spot or scab continues to itch, hurt or bleed
- Skin ulcers persist without apparent reason
Source: Cancer Reaserch - UK

Facts:

Hepatitis B:.A highly infectious disease, which can permanently damage the liver. It can be transmitted during sex or via dirty needles [including blood transfusions]. The incubation period is 2-6 months, plenty of time for you to pass it on to others unknowingly. You can be immunised against it. Condoms give good, though not perfect protection.

HIV/Aids: Over half of UK cases - many heterosexual - acquired the disease abroad. It causes more deaths than malaria. The incubation period could be years and even tests take up to 6 months, plenty of time for you to pass it on to others unknowingly. Condoms give good, though not perfect protection.

Malaria is at large over certain parts of India.
The best way to avoid malaria [not to mention rarer but equally unpleasant health threats such as Encephalitis, Yellow Fever, Dengue Fever, Rift Valley fever and more] is to keep the little beggars off you.

Anopheles mosquitoes - the ones that transmit malaria - fly from dusk to dawn, so prepare yourself for this whining and dining time.

The Aedes mosquito, responsible for Yellow and Dengue Fever, flies during the day too, so in Dengue danger areas all day protection will be necessary.

Indoors the best thing is use a repellent as long as you are not allergic to them. In extremis spray the room with [esp. pyrethrum] insecticide, if it has window nets or air conditioning.
Electric anti-mosquito mats are preferable for all-night protection rather than smouldering coils, as coils tend to run out before dawn, and are smelly, unhealthy devices anyway.
When travelling in more primitive surroundings, sleep under a net, and if you have a past history treat the net with a standard repellent if possible.

Outdoors, wear light colours - mosquitoes know their camouflage - long trousers and long sleeves.

Take especial care of bare ankles underneath restaurant tables; it's the mosquito's favourite dining area. And they'll get you through thin clothes too, so apply repellent to thin fabrics in key places e.g. socks, T-shirt shoulders.

Avoid wearing perfumes and shower off your body odour as soon as you can, as mosquitoes use smell to track their victims.

If you get bitten and the spot is itchy, try 'ironing' it with a hot cup of tea or coffee - it will magically disappear for ever! Alternatively squeeze lemon juice onto it.

Mosquito Repellents:
India is still at its infancy when it comes to anti mosquito lotions. So bring some with you or use odomos, which doesn't stink any more.
Some of the good ones are
-Mosiguard is relatively natural [citrodiol and eucalyptus] and often very effective, so starting with that and saving the Deet for heavy duty mozzie attacks is worthwhile.

-NeemCare Herbal Insect Repellent. Neem tree oil is used in Ayurvedic medicine and is burned in India to repel insects.

You can buy Neem Oil and apply it regularly to give you a natural guard - 24 hrs.

-Refined lemon eucalyptus oil, lavender oil and citronella oil, all of which are disliked by insects; but don't forget to dilute them with some -kind of carrier oil, such a sunflower or sesame. Alternatively bath or shower with lemon gel.

- Vitamin B1. Consistant anecdotal evidence suggests that mozzies hate the smell of this vitamin. Take 100mg a day, starting a few days before your trip.

- Electric 'vape' mats work well in rooms, are relatively inoffensive and last longer than coils, but check local voltage and socket type.

- Electronic buzzers/sonic deterrents do not work as far as we know.

Malaria - Treatments and Prophylactics [Preventative Medicines]: Some preventatives can be ineffective, while others can instigate health problems - making you nauseous or turning you into quivering, psychotic jelly. Many experienced travellers only use chemicals in high-risk areas, but the choice is yours.

Chloroquine and proguanil [Paludrine], or mefloquine [Lariam] or malarone.
Malarone if available, or perhaps Mefloquine[Larium] is advisable in high risk zones. Malarone [atovaquene], as effective as Larium [i.e. nearly 100%] but no psychological side-effects. Also you only need to take it for only 7 days after leaving a malaria zone, as opposed to 28 days for Lariam.
In UK it's available on prescription at BA travel clinics when there is a specific health need.

- Doxycycline, an antibiotic [for treatment of chest and other infections], is widely used as a malaria treatment.

It's effective and especially popular in the Far East, e.g. Thailand and Laos. However it makes the skin sensitive to sunshine so it's not good for beach holidays.

It needs to be taken with plenty of water to prevent it sticking in the throat, and you should consume probiotics of some sort to restore healthy bacteria to your system - yoghurt or some other dairy products for example.

After Travel:Take care that health problems such as fever or flu-like illness developing up to 1 year after travel is not put down to flu.
Clearly inform your doctor of the possibility of malaria.

Symptoms: From infection to symptoms generally takes 1- 4 weeks, but can take up to one year. Initial symptoms in adults: flu-like illness, weakness, dizziness, headache, fever, muscular pains, vomiting, diarrhoea.

Initial symptoms in children: any of the above plus convulsions, coughing and rapid shallow breathing.

Severe symptoms: muscle spasms [including face], jaundice [yellow skin and eyes], kidney failure, rapid shallow breathing, convulsions, coma.
n.b. Pregnant women are at increased health risk of contracting severe malaria, which can also damage the foetus.

Jet lag depends on the number of time zones crossed rather than the length of the flight. The body clock gets out of sync with destination time, leading to disorientation, disturbed sleep, irritation, dizziness and general depression. It's especially bad when flying east. Aalso in a few cases you will be driving in the wild on your day of arrival. You are advised to skip this if you are prone to jet lag.

Prevention and Cures for Jet Lag:
Eat a light meal containing plenty of carbohydrates and greens before travelling.
Try to arrive well rested and healthy at your departure airport.
Try to get a flight with no/few stops as the changing cabin pressure exacerbates jet lag.
Set your watch to destination time as soon as you board the plane.
A homeopathic remedy for jet lag is arnica.

Leeches can be a problem in a few places in India (in particular Western Ghats and North-East). They are not known to transmit diseases but are a nuisance, as the ensuing bleeding can be difficult to stop. Coating feet or legs with Deet ensures protection for hours. Remove leeches by applying a squirt of insect repellent or salt.

Common Cold and other allergies should not be taken to lightly as they ten to become chronic and result to complications later. If you suffer from particular types of allergies do advise us prior to our departure. Normally the parks and the sanctuaries are in remote India where medicines may not always be available and we advice you to carry your own medicines. Please note that all our leaders carry a First-aid kit and are well versed with First-aid.

Finally do remember to pack two slightly important things - COMMON SENSE ( it is mighty difficult to buy) and PATIENCE (it pays).