Word: avoiding
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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Frightening as tropical diseases are, you're more likely to be killed in a traffic accident than by illness. Learn the local traffic rules, don't jaywalk and avoid driving after dark in rural areas. And don't assume that all's well because your trip has ended well. If you develop an unexplained fever or flulike illness within a year of your return, tell your doctor where you've been. Chances are you'll come home with nothing worse than a few tacky souvenirs, but it never hurts to be prepared...
There are no vaccines for some tropical diseases--like malaria and dengue fever. And even the drugs used to prevent malaria don't always work. So it's important when traveling to areas where these diseases are endemic (you can learn them from the CDC website) to avoid being bitten by mosquitoes. Wear long-sleeved shirts and long pants, go inside at dusk and spray insect repellent on exposed skin...
Planning a little international travel this summer? Before you renew your passport and figure out how many rolls of film to buy, there are a few health precautions you should take to avoid a side trip to the hospital. Anywhere from 20% to 70% of international travelers develop health problems, according to an article in last week's New England Journal of Medicine. The risks depend on where you go and whether you take a standard weeklong package tour or trek off the beaten path for weeks of backpacking or biking. But a lot also depends on how well prepared...
...normal after a couple of days. You should consult a doctor, however, even while still abroad, if you develop a fever or your stools become bloody. Many physicians prescribe an antibiotic for their traveling patients to use en route in just such a case. Your best bet is to avoid uncooked food (other than fruits and vegetables you peel yourself), use bottled water even for brushing your teeth, and keep your hands scrupulously clean by washing them with either soap or a liquid sanitizer like Purell...
...nanoscale machines (see "Will Tiny Robots Build Diamonds One Atom at a Time?" in this issue) will extend the Internet to things the size of molecules that can be injected under the skin, leading to Internet-enabled people. Such devices, together with Internet-enabled sensors embedded in clothing, will avoid a hospital stay for medical patients who would otherwise be there only for observation. The speech processor used today in cochlear implants for the hearing impaired could easily be connected to the Internet; listening to Internet radio could soon be a direct computer-to-brain experience...