On the Lonely Planet bulletin boards, the debate on Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (Sars) is raging, with individuals discussing whether they should cancel trips to south-east Asia and Toronto. 'This is likely paranoia,' says one correspondent, 'but I am in a SARS infected area in China, and have recently been on two flights in and around Beijing, and I currently have a nasty head cold. Would it have already moved into my chest if it was a problem?' With this in mind, here are some of the more useful sites on travellers' health and diseases.
Sars
The UK department of health's Sars section (doh.gov.uk/sars/) describes the early symptoms - a fever of 38C or more, a dry cough and shortness of breath. If the Foreign Office issues a travel warning, it will appear at fco.gov.uk. The World Health Organisation (who.int/csr/sars/en/) has a lot more detail, including the latest areas where Sars has been diagnosed.
E111
Not everyone bothers with an E111 form, but even if you have travel insurance, it's worth acquiring from a post office - many policies include a waiver, and possessing an E111 can cut quite substantially the cost of basic treatment abroad. The contents of the accompanying booklet, including worldwide immunisation tables, are at doh.gov.uk/traveladvice.
Tropical diseases
The Malaria Foundation (www.malaria.org) is probably the best site dedicated to the mosquito-borne disease. Lonely Planet (lonelyplanet.com/health) and the American Centre for Disease Control (cdc.gov/travel/destinat.htm) cover the rest. The latter's clickable map is especially helpful. For a list of private travel clinics, see the International Society of Travel Medicine at istm.org (though, of course, your GP will also administer shots and tablets). Those concerned about the side-effects of mefloquine (larium) can read up on its pros and cons at geocities.com/TheTropics/6913/lariam.htm.
The runs
Is it really giardia, or just a common-or-garden bout of bacterial diarrhoea? It's probably too late, but the diagnosis at the Giardia Club (giardiaclub.com) is horrible enough to make you pay attention to the authors' points on water purification. You can buy water filters (and mosquito repellents, nets and first aid kits) online at Travelwithcare.com, Masta and Nomad Travel.
Altitude sickness
The best single-page guide to AS is Visit the Outdoor Action Guide.
Sexually transmitted diseases
See drthom.com/info/stds.htm. Ever wondered what a bad case of the clap involves? Dr Thom is the man to consult, if only to aid diagnosis if you find yourself a long way from a sympathetic doctor.
