Dehli Belly

Today's San Francisco Chronicle travel section's lead article is about travellers' diarrhea; I haven't read it yet but will post the link to the article tomorrow when it is available online.

And on the same topic (and from the same paper):

>>Even as awareness grows about how tough it is to avoid traveler's diarrhea overseas, some promising strategies on the horizon could one day save thousands of people from spending their trips hunched over a toilet.

One is a new antibiotic that could be used to treat -- and perhaps even prevent -- diarrhea without the problems and side effects of current drugs. Another is a genetic test that could separate travelers with iron stomachs from those are most at risk, allowing doctors to tailor strategies and treatments to fit each person...<<

The rest of the article can be found at:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...7/TR211424.DTL

Sorry but it all sounds a bit over the top to me, tailor made treatments, new antibiotics, genetic testing.
Must give an old "head" like yourself WW something to chuckle about.
I am I must admit very lucky with stomach problems but even if I was'nt I think I'm gung ho enough to skip the genetic testing of the future!!
In 8 cases out of 10 getting the runs means nothing more serious than a trip to the doctor and two or three days camped out by the toilet an inconvienience more than anything else!! If this is the future I'm happily old fashioned!!

Oh and WW the link ain't working so I have'nt read the article in it's entirity!!

Just a couple of tips to avoid bad guts - I follow and so far have been fine on all trips.

Instead of taking the usual malaria tablets - take Doxycycline 100mg capsule - they are an anti malaria antibiotic but also used as a preventive measure for travellers diarrhoea. Also for any ladies prone to water infections and the like it works a treat.

Secondly, avoid eating meat unless in good restaurants be them local or tourist. Not much can go wrong with vegetables.
In the South particularly in Kovalam the fish is put outside the restaurant for 3-4 hours on a table and then taken in and froze, this happens on a nightly basis so that large fish can be re-frozen many times and inbetween put out in the warm air - allowing for a nice environment for bacteria to breed.

Also it is often better to stick to the local dishes as often people aren't trained in dealing with dishes from other countries and perhaps mishandle food, not cook it correctly and so on.

In my opinion having had serious food poisoning in Morocco - any preventive measures are better than being ill.

So, here's the link to the main article:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...7/TR281669.DTL


These links are long; don't forget to delete any space that appears between the "two lines" that they take up here. (Both links worked for me, cyberhippie; please try again).

Morena451, I'm not convinced that it's a good idea to take a mild antibiotic every day for 90 days; I think it's one of the reasons that we have many disease organisms (in the US) that are resistant to most antibiotics. Also, these long-term antibiotics can cause yeast infections in females (maybe more uncomfortable than the Delhi Belly) and also makes us more sensitive to sunshine.

Each person has a different approach to this; the main article (link in message above) is actually more pertinent than the sidebar about genetic testing.

The problem with Delhi belly is it sneaks up on you. Your having dinner in a small restaurant with a nice girl you just met and uh-oh the stomach starts rumbling. You quickly excuse yourself and run to the nearest restroom. Squat toilets, damn. Okay you get over it and do your thing. Being unprepared it's time for the old lefthander, you reach for the little cup and go to fill it with water, "damn the water doesn't work". You peer out of the stall and look around for another source of water, no one is around and you sneak out and find the next tap (half naked mind you) and "damn" no water there either.

You think what would MacGuyver do? And then you say goodbye to your favorite pair of socks.

After the meal is over you go to pay for the bill and you realize that you have about half a dozen moist towelettes in your back pocket and say "stupid me".

I would consider some of these drugs just so moments like that don't happen again.

Is there a cure yet for the old "moving a solid" problem yet?

Hope I can say that in present company, but all travelers to India know exactly what I am talking about here (sorry to gross anyone out).

I always have a generous length of toilet paper, torn off from a roll, stuck in my back pocket. Never leave home without it.

No you didn't gross me out Indiamike but your story was funny and who was that lassie btw?

I have to confess I came back from India in 1997 with a stomach bug called Giardia lamblia and was a mess for a few days until I got diagnosed and took my antibiotics.

When you get this you only shit banana mush which smells foul like sulphur.

I even had the local Environmental Health Officer call round as this is a notifiable disease in the UK.

In 2001 I used Carex antibacterial hand cleanser all the time and both me and mrs. rab were fine.

Hi. Giardia is the most common form of travellers diarrhea. It is not curable by antibiotics, you must take Flagyl / Tinidazole, or Metronidazole. and since it comes in stages, sometimes the dose will not fully cure it.
From my experience too, Giardia can be mild to medium in severity.

Last year I spent the whole year in India and only got Giardia once.
The trick is yes to wash your hands. but also to be careful of what you eat / drink.

salads and fresh vegetables washed in water are a no no, ice is a no-no, most juices are mixed with water (no no!) don't eat the dishes that are cold (this is often the case in South Indian Thalis, you have to feel each little pot to make sure it is hot.. if its not, then no-no)

of course there are ways around these, if you mix the juice with mineral water for example, but generally, while travelling, it is safest just to avoid the above.


IndiaMike: what do you mean when you say 'moving a solid' problem?? is this when you have diarrhea 'backed up' blocked by a constipated poo and you are getting really sick and nauseaus from the backed up diarrhea staying in your system?
surely all seasoned India travellers won't find this discussion nauseating!

Yes I had to take metronidazole over three days but I understand this is an antibiotic, albeit a harsh one which is so foul it makes you think when you are drinking Coca Cola that you are drinking pure cold molten iron! Correct me if I am wrong but it is antibiotic.

I knew someone who took this antibiotic and drank red wine and felt so bad they thought they were dying!!! Do not drink booze with this drug!

rab

my favoured is amoebia dysenterie..i get it every time i m in india,
so every time it happens i say: so what else is new?
i also had giardia a couple of times,mostly during the monsoon seasons,
getting the runs is also a psychological problem,if you think whwn i m eating this I will get sick you ll get sick for sure,
I remember eating in a restaurant in tala,I orderd bhajia and a mutton curry,I tried a bit and it was absoluteley rotten(old),an indian
couple sitting beside me ate the same and they really seemed to enjoy it
so every stomach is different,so every stomach problem you surive makes you harder for the future....
just give your stomach a lot of training trying all kinds of food...

a friend of mine (dutch) came home beeing completely drunk,feeling hungry ,so he made himself some beefburgers,but he didn t realize that the deepfreezer was out of electricity for a week or so......getting really really sick,nearly died,he told me that it was like taking a lot of acid,tripping for days...one of the "nice" aspects of food poisening..
but since then he was able to eat and drink anything without problems,drinking water in india from a well,eating icecream on the streets,eating halfraw fish,halfcooked meat and so on ..

personally i don t care so much about the dehli belly,here in germany I have much more stomach problems,the food is just to clean and to safe here i guess

Allthough i've had my part of it :
Two lassi's a day keeps the toilet away !

It is an antibiotic, but not a penicillin, which may be the root of the confusion.

I had my worst paperless crisis when arriving in Pokhara after the Annapurna Circuit : new bout of the runs at the same time as I enterd bushless territory - and also found out I had forgotten my roll in the last loo.

I am still hesitant to tell what I used instead

I usually have a section of a newspaper in my bag for emergency occasions, though I can't recall finding a loo where there was no water.

This discussion reminds me of the old days except the level of medical knowledge is much higher now. One rumor I've heard from time to time is that Coca-Cola helps. Supposedly it kills the bacteria.