Diarrhea

Preventing Traveler's Diarrhea
Traveler's diarrhea happens when you consume food or water contaminated with *bacteria, *viruses, or *parasites. You can take the following precautions to prevent traveler's diarrhea when you travel outside of the United States:

• Do not drink tap water or use it to brush your teeth.
• Do not drink unpasteurized milk or dairy products.
• Do not use ice made from tap water.

• Avoid all raw fruits and vegetables, including lettuce and fruit salads, unless they can be peeled and you peel them yourself.
• Do not eat raw or rare meat and fish.
• Do not eat meat or shellfish that is not hot when served.
• Do not eat food from street vendors.

You can safely drink bottled water - if you are the one to break the seal - along with carbonated soft drinks, and hot drinks such as coffee or tea.

Depending on where you are going and how long you will stay, your doctor may recommend that you take antibiotics before leaving to protect you from possible infection.

Glossary For This Page

*Bacteria
Bacteria is tiny microorganisms that reproduce by cell division and usually have a cell wall. Bacteria can be shaped like a sphere, rod, or spiral and can be found in virtually any environment and range from the harmless and beneficial bacteria to the bacteria that can casue infections and disease in animals and humans. Bacteria is plural (consisiting of more than one) for bacterium.

*Viruses
Extremely small microscopic organisms that often cause disease.

*Parasite
A parasite is an animal or plant that gets nutrients by living on or in an organism of another species (host). A complete parasite gets all of its nutrients from the host organism, but a semi-parasite gets only some of its nutrients from the host.

References:
March 2007
NIH Publication No. 07-2749
digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/diarrhea/