Call your Pediatrician before you Travel

How many you of take your children to the doctor before traveling, especially before traveling to a foreign country?  Probably not many.  I honestly have not given it much thought unless my child was sick before we left town.  Maybe more of us should based on a Reuters article.  

In a study of more than 34,000 international travelers who sought medical care for travel-related ills, researchers found that children most often suffered bouts of diarrhea, skin injuries -- most commonly animal bites or parasite-induced rashes -- fevers and respiratory infections.   

A number of those problems were more common among children compared with adult travelers, and children were also more likely than adults to be hospitalized for their conditions.  

Children were less likely than adults, however, to have gotten any medical advice before their trip, the study found. While 59 percent of adults had gotten pre-travel medical care, only 49 percent of children had.   

When we travel to places where we know the water will cause diarrhea if we drink it, for instance, we may ask our doctor if we need to get any vaccines before we go.  We also will buy bottled water when we go.  But how about traveling to a destination not known for health hassards?  It seems like with children we should be more mindful of potential illnesses.  More children suffer from travel-related illnesses and injuries than adults.   According the article: "Children were at greater risk of animal bites, CLM, respiratory infections and certain causes of diarrhea -- like bacterial infection and acute gastroenteritis, a stomach infection often caused by food poisoning."   

As a parent you know children can sometimes be unpredictable.  They may try to pet a stray dog or cat or touch a poisonous plant.  According to the article there are some things we as parents can do to reduce these risks such as tell your children to "stay away from strange animals."  Also you may want to only let your children eat "well-cooked foods and avoid tap water can lower the odds of diarrheal illnesses."   

Most of these suggestions are common sense.  But how many of us are doing them?  When it comes to our children, can we be too careful?  I don't think so.