What's your most memorable India illness?

Bryan

More a combination rather than a one off
After my first six months the worst attacks were a times wrapped around the bowl of a squat style toilet not sure what end woudl erupt next and the bottle of water i religiously drank erupting about 30 minutes after drinking
A case of giardia in the himmies but all in nothing really dreadful

he second six months around a year later after travelling SEA the rest of the tiem not getting ill once gave me a bravado to health issues

Well India had its pound of flesh and then some
For around 3 months i was ill off and on the whole time
Would get well for 3 days sick for 3 days. It almost became routine until I made it back to the himlaya and I recuperated

When I arrived home after nearly 2years away my mum nearly burst into tears as her 5foot 11 inches son weighed under 10 stone ...not sure on the metric equivalent

Anyway ...as you can imagine I was dragged to a doctor for obligatory end of trip tests which to mine and everyon elses suprise came back negative ...not even giardia!!!!

However....perhaps this was a good thing 3 more trips to India for 6 months and I've never got sick once ...yeah the watery trials of the toilet lunge but never what you would call debilatating illness
So the next time you're wanting to die with your head down that indian loo just remember that this India's way of making you healthy for the next time you visit

bryan

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Arun

Bryan - just wondering, did you eat a lot of meat in India (on those few days you weren't ill)?

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Bryan

Nope ...veggie ever since the first time I set foot in India and havent went back
Been veggie for over 10 years now ...So not that
It really was a wierd thing ...People were beginning to set their clocks by me being sick

kira

I had E. coli in Vrindavan - thought I was going to vomit my internal organs, it was so violent.....I experienced severe nausea and couldn't move by body without vomiting. It was accompanied by diarrhaea.

I also had a similar bout in Secundabad, and allowed myself to get so dehydrated that I had the worst migrane I've ever experienced and a super high fever that didn't pass for several days. I was wandering the streets searching for a pharmacy but was so delirious I couldn't even think straight. Fortunately, a wealthy Indian family took me in and nursed me back to health!

I had the runs about 5-6x on separate occasions....ironic considering I never got sick at all the first time I visited India.

I lost about 20 lbs due to not being able to eat while having the runs - looked like an anorexic when I got home a few days ago!

Ja~martini34

how on the earth did you get ecoli ?
oh my gosh-
good thing that indian family took you under their house!
how long were you sick?

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kira

I'm not sure how I got E. coli. It's called "food poisoning" in India, and is not considered to be a very big deal....I had some yogurt that tasted off at this restaurant which people later told me had rats & roaches, and where many others also got sick. I also drank some milk that had been poured over a Deity at a temple, and I had a salad as well - though it was at a Western-run restaurant where they wash it before serving. I figure any of the above could have been the culprit

Next time I will try to avoid milk, yogurt, raw veggies and fruits unless peeled myself.

I was sick for about a week with that one - and the other times, it lasted about 3-4 days, though my appetite didn't return for over a week each time (hence the weight loss).

guerik

You should be fine with lassi or juices made on the street as long as you make sure they don't put ice or water in it. (you probably won't want salt either so that's worth mentioning too).

I'm pretty sure that as long as you only have the water in small doses it wouldn't do any damage - I was drinking out of glasses with water on them all the time and had no problems whatsoever.

slowbus

Well, I wasn't deathly ill (although at the time death seemed like an attractive alternative), and now that 13 years have passed I sometimes find it quite amusing...

I came down with a nasty bout of the runs on the train to Jaisalmer, but fortunately when I arrived I still had enough energy to make it to a "nice" hotel in the fort. Then things turned ugly and the next few days were a blur.

At one point I was down to 20-minutes on the toilet followed by 20 minutes in bed, repeated indefinitely. The toilet was a wooden shack suspended over the edge of the parapets, so ones waste just dropped straight down onto unsuspecting passers-by below. Not that I had much regard to their plight at the time. The real problem was that there was no roof, and at mid-day the sun shone straight down into the little cubicle, boiling my already dehydrated body. Given that the temperature was in the low 50's at the time (which is damn hot at the best of times),
I would have gladly leaped over the parapet myself if I had the energy.

Later in the day my condition improved slightly, so I could sleep over an hour at time, but I was still pretty delirious. At one point, after staggering back from the toilet and collapsing on my cot, I glanced out the window and saw a large sandstorm blowing into town. I clearly remember thinking I'd better get up and close the shutters. I awoke some time later to find every bodily orifice stuffed with sand.

My subsequent trip to the toilet is not one I'll forget -- try as I might!

mdchachi

Wash your hands... a lot.

lobo

Perhaps its linked to a few things.
Eg in places like delhi in the heat i think the food will obviously be more risky, food might not refrigerated properly, more flies etc etc.
Also delhi is a very busy place, full of people which means more rubbish and more human waste.
I went in january and I ate meat all the time in delhi, on the train and goa (only chicken from the tandori oven in delhi).
I only got ill once for 24 hours from eating to much pineapple in goa!!!!.
In goa i was in a quite quiet part, it was hot but u never had that mass of humanity that leaves so much ruubbish and waste.
I ate anything in goa, fish, salads, cheese, prawns etc etc never got ill once from any of those (the gods turn there heads after hearing this and smile for next time).
It would be interesting to hear if the food related issues are more from meat or in hotter places. Surley there will be less germs and bacteria during the chilly months in the north than in the heat of mumbai or delhi.

emilii

I got salmonella from our latest trip to India in April. It was really nasty with all the typical symptoms. The diahorrea lasted for 7 days and the vomiting... oooh

Luckily it started when I got back home (actually right after getting my feet on my homeground!!)... altough my employer wasn´t too happy for me being on a sick leave right after a 6 weeks holiday but what can u do. I´m now a bit scared of getting it again when I go back to India in November... maybe I should forget about eating with hands and carry a fork and a knife with me everywhere I go..

Has anyone else suffered from salmonella?

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Sensi

it unfortuante that people suffer from these preventable disease.

This is usually from eating raw eggs (which i don't eat.) I noticed with Nepal cooks they always make this mayanose with veg. burger or salads. I suggest people stay far away from that stuff.
I thought it was common knowlegde to 'go veg' when in India? Also for dysntry is usually caused by meat preperation.

Hep A, there is a vacine as well as for typhoid. Anyone should get these before heading to india.

emilii

Yeah... well I didn´t at any meat or raw eggs... but an omelet almost every morning. I did take care of my hand hygiene.
Maybe I was just really unfortunate cause my husband for example didn´t have any problems.

eater

Quote:

Originally Posted by rab Giardia Went on the council list as a notifiable disease carrier and had a visit from an Environmental Health Officer! Cured it with metronidazole - a totally foul antibiotic.

Giardiasis is not uncommon in Canada either....hiking, camping, conoeing country....can pick it up drinking "unboiled" river water.

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eater

Quote:

Originally Posted by kira I'm not sure how I got E. coli. It's called "food poisoning" in India, and is not considered to be a very big deal....I had some yogurt that tasted off at this restaurant which people later told me had rats & roaches, and where many others also got sick. I also drank some milk that had been poured over a Deity at a temple, and I had a salad as well - though it was at a Western-run restaurant where they wash it before serving. I figure any of the above could have been the culprit

The dreaded "disease" every time we visit India.....mainly because of eating food stuff from street vendors (pani puri, bhel).....can't resist it !!!