At a glance

Source : Clinical Infectious Diseases

Tags:  travel, diarrhoea, malaria, sweat, mosquito, dengue, repellant, constipation,

Travel tips for John and Jane

17 March 2010

A study has found that women and men differ in the types of illnesses they suffer while travelling. Data from 44 travel medicine clinics worldwide looking at records for almost 59 000 patients revealed that women were up to 39 per cent more likely to seek treatment for diarrhoea, constipation, and abdominal pain. Just over three per cent of men were treated for malaria or dengue fever compared to 1.5 and 1.7 per cent respectively of women. Seventeen per cent of men had a fever inducing illness compared to eleven per cent of women. Insects are attracted to sweat and men sweat more and so wash off insect repellent making them more susceptible to mosquito born disease. Women might be more vulnerable to gastrointestinal ills or simply more likely to seek treatment. So; ladies, take acidophilus before and during travel and men, reapply that insect repellent frequently.