Travellers' diarrhoea

The causes of travellers' diarrhoea

Travellers’ diarrhoea can be triggered by all sorts of things, including overindulging in alcohol or eating rich and spicy foods. However, it is most likely to be caused by contact with contaminated food or water or by exposure to new varieties of bacteria that normally live in the gut. In many cases, symptoms can be treated with the use of a diarrhoea medicine such as IMODIUM®.

Preventing travellers' diarrhoea

Tips on avoiding contaminated water

• Don’t drink – or brush your teeth with – tap water. Instead, drink or use sealed, bottled water or boiled/purified water. Also, avoid ice cubes made from tap water.
• You can also drink other bottled or canned beverages.
• When swimming, keep your head out of the water and try not to swallow it, as the water may be contaminated.

Tips on avoiding contaminated food

• Make sure food is properly cooked and as hot as it should be.
• Always try to make sure food left around is covered up or in the fridge.
• Wash your hands thoroughly before eating.
• Try to avoid all of the following:
  • foods that may have been washed in tap water, such as fruit (peel to be safe), salads and uncooked vegetables;
  • ice creams from unreliable sources;
  • snacks from roadside vendors;
  • cold meats;
  • shellfish or raw seafood;
  • unpasteurised milk (boil if unsure); and
  • reheated food.
     

Treating travellers' diarrhoea

If you are unlucky enough to experience a bout of travellers’ diarrhoea, health experts recommend the following:

• Replace lost fluids by drinking plenty of bottled or boiled water. For the frail, elderly or children, who are at greater risk from dehydration, oral rehydration sachets are also advisable.
• Limit drinking and eating to tea and flat, fizzy drinks such as cola, and bland crackers and dry toast. As your appetite increases, add simple, baked foods.
• Take an over-the-counter diarrhoea medicine such as IMODIUM® Instants, which melt on the tongue and don’t need water, or IMODIUM® Plus Caplets for faster relief from diarrhoea and associated cramps, wind and bloating.
• Contact a doctor if symptoms last longer than 24 hours; you develop a fever over 38°C; or you have blood or mucus in your stools.