According to a new study in the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, football lovers traveling to South Africa for the World Cup should be worrying about mundane problems like diarrhea, measles, and tick bites than exotic tropical disease such as yellow fever and malaria.
This study was based on the illnesses reported by more than 15,000 tourists who had visited Africa between 1997 and 2009 and later seen at 50 travel medicine clinics in 23 countries that belong to the GeoSentinel network.
From Goal.blogs.nytimes.com:
The most common illnesses reported were fevers, rashes and acute diarrhea. Tap water in South African cities is safe but, as is true even for visitors to the United States, tourists often get diarrhea from unfamiliar food and drink. The study suggested carrying over-the-counter remedies. It also suggested checking the guidelines of the Centers for Disease Control. Taking antibiotics as a precaution is not recommended.
The most common insect-borne disease detected was African tick-bite fever, which can be treated with antibiotics. Tourists in grassy rural areas should avoid tick bites: wear long pants tucked into socks, use insect repellent with DEET and check your body for ticks.
(I lived in South Africa from 1995 to 1999, and never had malaria, but did get tick-bite fever after sitting in tall grass on a historic battlefield. It was the worst headache and fever of my life, but my doctor laughed it off as routine. “It’s not nearly as scary as that thing you have in America,” he said. “What is it called? Lyme disease?”)
Flu shots were suggested by the authors since the football season will also be South Africa’s flu season.
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Tags: diarrhea, flu, Football, malaria, measles, South Africa, tick bites, World Cup, yellow fever
