Archive for the ‘News’ Category
Mpox and risk to Travellers
August 17th, 2024WHO has recently declared mpox (formerly known as monkeypox) as a “public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) under the International Health Regulations (2005) (IHR)”. This is because the disease is increasing in the DRC and spreading to surrounding countries. We are all a bit traumatised by a declaration of a “public health emergency” […]
What is Japanese Encephalitis? Japanese Encephalitis (JE) is a serious viral infection transmitted by mosquitoes. The JE virus primarily affects the brain, leading to inflammation known as encephalitis. It is a member of the flavivirus family, which includes other mosquito-borne viruses such as dengue, yellow fever, and West Nile virus. JE is prevalent in rural […]
Dengue – Day biting Mosquitoes
March 12th, 2024Dengue Fever is relatively common in travellers. Some studies show 1% of travellers to the tropics are exposed to the dengue virus. It is often not diagnosed correctly or may be mistaken for something else. The only way to confirm someone has dengue fever is to have a blood test. Fever after visiting these areas […]
Japanese Encephalitis in Brisbane
March 7th, 2022YIKES As if this year hasn’t been bad enough – with global warming, pandemic, the war in Europe, and flooding across the east coast, now Japanese Encephalitis (JE) – a monstrous disease of travellers has arrived on our doorstep. There has been much in the media like this from the Guardian or this from the […]
News from the travel health trenches
May 24th, 2021Things are quiet, but we are seeing a few travellers – mostly for work trips : Fly in Fly out (FIFO) workers are doing 3 months swings, patients going to help PNG with their vaccine rollout or medical care, but mostly travellers are going to ‘fix things’ – […]
Q&A about Covid Vaccine
March 29th, 2021Is the COVID vaccine mandatory? No – you can choose whether or not you wish to have a COVID vaccine, and you can also decide when you want to have it. If you choose not to have a COVID-19 vaccine, your eligibility for Government payments won’t be affected. It is unclear if […]
10 Tips for surviving 14 days in hotel quarantine
July 25th, 2020Travel Health in the age of COVID Mandatory Hotel Quarantine is a necessary evil in the fight against this virus but it is hard on the “guests”. Those who read the news and think – oh that looks OK…. two weeks in a luxury hotel…. how bad can that be? Well, it’s not completely like […]
Entering Quarantine in Australia
July 17th, 2020Dr Deb Mills I travelled from Dunedin NZ to Brisbane on 10th July 2020. At that time there were no reported cases of community transmission of the new coronavirus in New Zealand so I considered I was more likely to get infected on the flight than bring the disease into Australia. I did not know how […]
International Travel Recovery?
May 15th, 2020We love to travel but WHEN can we go? Aside from everything else, this COVID-19 pandemic has thrown a big spanner in many travel plans. How long until we have an International Travel Recovery? When can we go? It is likely to take ‘a wee while’ as my Scottish grandma used to say. Of course, it will […]
Why is COVID-19 such a big deal? Two reasons
March 11th, 2020This is not about whether you will get sick and die from COVID-19. Most people will not. This is about two things – one that is about you and the other that is about helping those less fortunate than you in the society that we all share and benefit from. We need to protect the […]
