Water water every where. . . . .

I've been getting an education this month from my 4 year old on how dirty water can make you ill. She's in training at nursery for the Sport Relief Mile and in her own way, understands that there is a little girl called Zainab in Sierra Leone that has to walk miles in the sun, just to get some water that often makes her sick.

There are many things that I cover during an appointment with a traveller but the importance of clean water is always one of them. Whilst some diseases like hepatitis A, polio and cholera can largely be prevented by vaccination there are many more water borne diseases including travellers’ diarrhoea that cannot be prevented by having a vaccine and there is a big reliance on what an individual does to prevent them getting ill. You can catch diseases by swimming, showering or drinking water that is contaminated so the water that you drink should always be bottled, boiled or sterilised, even when brushing your teeth. Avoid ice cubes as they can be made from unsafe water.

For some clients that I see, obtaining reliable bottled water will be pretty straight forward. For others, such as someone participating in a volunteer project for example, obtaining their water and making it safe to drink will be more of a challenge. Where will water be obtained? How far will you have to go to get it? Will you be able to boil water or will you need to chemically treat it so that it is safe to use?

Whilst unsafe water can make you ill, water is also vital if you want to get well and it's important to not get dehydrated if you have diarrhoea. Rehydration sachets mixed with safe water will help to prevent this.

If you’re running the Sport Relief Mile then good luck.  You're helping children and adults get access to something we in the UK take for granted - safe, clean water. 

This week I attended a careers event for 600 school children in Renfrewshire which has had me reflecting on my nursing career and the path it has taken. I often get asked if I am still a nurse and how I came to be working as a travel nurse.

Well I've been nursing since I left school 21 years ago.  I initially specialised in accident and emergency nursing  - a great speciality and an area that I very much miss working in.  However, although I loved my job as nursing sister in a busy A/E department, I needed a job that was going to work around a shift working husband and family life. 

I applied to work in a small travel clinic very much thinking it would be a 'make do' place to work in until I could return to A/E.  As it turned out, I loved the speciality of travel medicine so much that I set up my own private clinic in Glasgow in 2003.  Along the way I have undertaken extensive training in travel medicine and have a recognised and highly specialised diploma awarded by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons (Glasgow). In fact all of our nursing team here have completed and been awarded this diploma, something we are naturally very proud of.

So I'm no longer a specialist in A/E nursing but I am a specialist nurse in travel health and over the last 9 years my clinic has evolved to be the leading private travel clinic in Glasgow. We help hundreds of travellers each month get protected for their foreign trip and I love spending time with clients, finding out about their travel plans, knowing I can help them stay well when they are abroad.

Yellow Fever Confusion?

Yellow Fever is the vaccine that causes the most confusion for our clients.  Travellers attend the clinic believing they need the vaccine when in fact they don’t and more concerning, many travellers think that they don’t need the vaccine when they are very much at risk of yellow fever and should be getting protected.

So what are the facts of yellow fever vaccination?

Yellow Fever is found in some countries within South America and Africa.

The fact that a country has no requirement for a traveller to get yellow fever vaccination does not mean that there is no risk of yellow fever.

Yellow Fever vaccination is given for 2 reasons:

 1: to protect an individual from getting the disease

2: to protect countries from having the disease imported or spreading within a country.

Often, countries that require proof of yellow fever vaccination to enter do not actually have the disease.   Because they do not want the disease introduced, travellers arriving from or transiting through a country that has yellow fever might be required to show proof of yellow fever vaccination.

It is spread by mosquitoes that bite during the day and early evening.

In some countries, the risk of yellow fever can vary throughout the country.

Contracting yellow fever can be fatal

Prevention is through vaccination which is safe, effective and lasts for 10 years.

The vaccine can only be given at registered yellow fever centres where an assessment of a traveller’s trip will be carried out to determine if the vaccine is required.