The Best of Cambodia & Laos

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PLANNING YOUR TRIP TO CAMBODIA
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HEALTH
HEPATITIS B Hepatitus B is contracted
through contamination by infected blood.
As with HIV, it is mostly contracted
through sexual contact, blood transfusion,
and contaminated needles. Other more
everyday objects such as a razor or a toothbrush
can also be a conduit. Vaccination,
which takes the form of three shots over a
6-month period, is highly recommended.
TYPHOID Typhoid is bacterial and
transmitted through contaminated food.
Typhoid can be life-threatening, particularly
to children and the elderly. Early
detection and a course of antibiotics will
usually prevent complications. Symptoms
include sustained fever, sweating, gastroenteritis,
nonbloody diarrhea, and, in
some cases, a rash of flat rose-colored
spots. Antibiotics are commonly used to
treat the disease. Vaccinations are available
but are only 50%-to-80% effective. Nevertheless,
the vaccine is recommended.
JAPANESE ENCEPHALITIS This is a
mosquito-borne disease that is endemic to
Southeast Asia. Symptoms include headache,
fever, nausea, upset stomach, and
malaise. Vaccination is recommended,
particularly if traveling in rural parts of the
country.
CHOLERA Cholera is a food- and
waterborne disease. The main symptoms
of infection are diarrhea and intense dehydration.
Occasionally there are outbreaks
in some parts of the country and vaccination
is recommended.
RABIES Rabies is a disease transmitted
through bodily fluids, mainly by a bite or
contact with the saliva of an infected animal.
In Cambodia, there is no shortage of
ill-disciplined dogs, monkeys, and bats, all
of which may transmit the disease. The
symptoms of rabies are malaise, headache,
and fever, while in later stages it includes
acute pain, violent movements, uncontrolled
excitement, depression, and the
inability to swallow water or hydrophobia.
If you get any kind of puncture wound
from a potentially infected animal, it is
important to seek treatment immediately.
This consists of a series of vaccinations
over a 1-month period. If you are planning
to spend a lot of time in high-risk areas,
you might want to consider preexposure
vaccinations. These make postexposure
treatment far simpler, reducing the number
of shots required as well as preventing
the need for rabies-immune globulin
(which may not be available and would
therefore require evacuation to Thailand).
A vigilant eye should be kept on children,
given that most of them have an abiding
fascination with all creatures four-legged.
MALARIA This is a biggie in Southeast
Asia and still a serious threat. There are
four strains of malaria and all are life
threatening, cerebral malaria being the
most serious. Malaria is caused by a onecell
parasite transmitted by the Anopheles
mosquito. The parasite travels into the
liver, lies dormant, and grows. Then symptoms
occur when it enters the bloodstream.
Symptoms include high fever,
headaches, nausea, vomiting, dizziness,
and confusion. Initial symptoms may
appear the same as for a number of other
conditions, including flu. If experiencing
any of these symptoms, seek medical help
immediately.
It may be advisable to take a prophylactic
such as mefloquine (Lariam), the antibiotic
doxycycline, or atovaquone/
proguanil (Malarone). The problem is that
all these drugs have quite severe side
effects. Larium can cause severe and distressing
mood swings. Malarone can cause
diarrhea, insomnia, dizziness, headaches,
loss of appetite, nausea, stomach pain,
vomiting, and weakness. Doxycycline may
cause the skin to have an intense sensitivity
to sunlight, nausea, vomiting, upset
stomach, and loss of appetite. The best
thing you can do is to simply not get bitten.
This means covering all exposed areas
of skin, especially at dawn and dusk when