BUGS, BITES AND JABS

We asked local GP Sarah Jarvis and alternative health practictioner and writer, Helen Johnson, for their views on protecting kids when travelling abroad. Here are their tips on what you can do to minimise the risk of infections. We also asked them whether you need to vaccinate your children, a subject on which they disagreed strongly.

Children who travel abroad face risks of infectious diseases from a frighteningly wide number of sources. Children are naturally inquisitive, and may not be aware of the dangers they are placing themselves in. How many three year olds do you know who would think twice about accepting an ice cream on a hot day at the beach, because they were worried it might have been made from infected water? Likewise, where you see a potentially rabies-ridden flea-bag, they see a cuddly animal. If they do get diarrhoea and vomiting (one of the most common illnesses to afflict foreign travellers), they can get dehydrated much more quickly than their adult companions. Aeroplanes are also a likely space for catching bugs!

Fortunately, there are plenty of non-medical measures you can take to protect children against infection when they travel. Most of them are just common sense, but they start long before you book your ticket. The first piece of advice is to avoid countries where malaria is endemic if you possibly can. If you must take your children there, don’t rely on anti-malarial tablets alone to protect your child – they help, but they don’t prevent every case. Make sure you have mosquito cot nets or bed nets; use antimalarial sprays on clothes as well as exposed skin; put your child in long-sleeved clothes and trousers, especially in the evenings; use mosquito coils or ‘knock-down’ sprays in their rooms before bed. Mosigard Natural contains derivatives of eucalyptus oil, and seems to be safe for children.

For children in particular, the expression ‘boil it, cook it, peel it or forget it’ is particularly important. Don’t forget that fruit and salad may have been washed in infected water; that ice in drinks can be contaminated, even if the drink came from a bottle; and that freezing doesn’t guarantee freedom from infection in ice creams.
Take plentiful supplies of wet wipes, so you can wash your child’s hands very frequently – lots of diseases are spread by the faecal oral route. Never let your child drink water that has not been boiled or sterilised and that includes ice, locally made ice creams, salads etc.
Protect your child from the sun – avoid the sun from 12-3, use high factor (at least factor 30) all over and reapply it regularly. Buy them a floppy hat and DON’T give in to whines of ‘I don’t want to wear it’! Clothes should be loose but tightly woven, and the sun-proof suits that have spread in popularity from Australia are perfect. Sunburn may not be an infectious disease, but it can be a lethal one.

Helen's recipe for natural insect repellent using essential oils ...

1 part Red Thyme
2 parts Lemongrass
1 part Lavender

Make up a bottle of this and add a few drops onto your palms when applying sun protector creams or dilute in oil and massage into the skin.

Do children also need vaccinations if they are travelling abroad?

Dr Sarah Jarvis: Absolutely. Unless you wrap your child up in an environment so protected they might as well not be on holiday at all, there are going to be risks they don’t face in the UK.

We live in a country where we take the absence of serious infectious disease for granted. When you travel abroad, you are exposing kids to far higher risks – not only of new diseases such as typhoid and hepatitis A, but also of diseases that they routinely have immunisation against in the UK. If you go to a country where there is no effective immunisation programme, these infectious diseases will be endemic – that means, they will be circulating commonly in the country. People who have them will be infectious long before they develop symptoms of the disease, and the risk of catching them is enormously increased.

To find out which immunisations your child needs, make an appointment with your practice nurse or GP. They will have up-to-date lists of the countries where different immunisations are needed. Do leave plenty of time before you travel – some immunisations take several weeks to provide maximum protection. Above all, you can rest assured that immunising your child will allow you to enjoy your holiday with peace of mind – and these days, that’s something we all need!

Homeopathic methods are not reliable enough to protect your child. There is no scientific research to prove that they increase immunity at all. What is more, one of the recent outbreaks of measles occurred in a village in Europe where virtually all the children had been immunised against MMR homeopathically. When the outbreak occurred, the children were tested for their immunity, and it became clear that the homeopathic immunisation had not prevented them from contracting the disease. It is simply not worth gambling with your child's health - you would never forgive yourself if they died, or became seriously ill, as a result of your well meaning but misguided actions.

Helen Johnson: Prevention is better than cure. Be vigilant and avoid exposure to likely infection as much as possible. Find out if there are any real risks of contracting the illnesses in the area you are travelling to at the time you are going. (This information is available on the internet as well as from your travel agent.)

There is a good homeopathic travel kit available from Helios Homeopathics (01892 537254) listing remedies for diseases from tetanus to amoebic dysentery. The World Travellers Manual of Homeopathy by Dr. Colin B. Lessell (ISBN 0-85207-242-2) is an excellent book which tells you how to use homeopathic remedies to protect against and treat all sorts of foreign diseases.

Homeopathic nosodes can be given in a similar way to vaccination. Nosodes are remedies prepared by great dilution of the micro-organism that causes the disease. The nosodes produce an immunological response to the micro-organism, as do conventional vaccinations. There is no scientific research into their effectivity but I and many other homeopaths have been using them successfully for years. Nosodes should be taken weekly from two weeks before travel to six weeks after.

There are also very good remedies to protect against malaria. The medical drugs for this can have strong side effects including vomiting them up. My favourite is Natrum Sulph 200c. Take weekly from 8 weeks before you go to 6 weeks after you get back.

First published in angels and urchins, Spring 2004

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