Cruise ships/Children/Intestinal diseases/Norovirus Should the frequent outbreaks of intestinal illnesses aboard cruise ships deter you from taking your family on a vacation at sea?  Our thoughts at the end of the article. (This is the second of a three-part series. Our previous posting: Children/Cruise ships/Health and safety. Our next posting: Intestinal diseases/Children/Treatment and preventing spread.) [...]

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Tags: are cruises safe from norovirus, CDC, children, cruise, cruise ship, cruise ships norovirus, cruise with family, cruises with kids, family, Health, intestinal diseases, Intestinal illnesses, leafy greens norovirus, norovirus, norovirus cruise ship outbreak, norovirus lettuce, norovirus outbreak, norovirus outbreaks on cruise ships, shelffish norovirus, Vacation, viral infections

Think twice before allowing your kids to swim in water where there are many infants.  The more infants in the water, the greater is the risk that the water is polluted with intestinal disease-causing microorganisms.  Here is what you should know: 1. Recreational water is an underappreciated source of intestinal diseases. Such water includes swimming [...]

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Tags: bacterium, bowel movements, CDC, chloramines, chlorine, cryptosporidium, Diarrhea, e. coli, eye irritation, giardia, hepatitis a, illness, infants in swim diapers, infants swimming, inflatable pools, intestinal illness, microorganisms, o157:h7, parasite, recreational water, septic, sewage, swim diapers, swimming facilities, urine, virus

Polio in Russia.  Measles in France. E. coli in Germany. Diseases that are particularly harmful to children. Diseases that you thought you would no longer hear much about are popping up in countries where you least expect to find them. Health-wise, is foreign travel become more hazardous?   1. On the contrary. Foreign travel is [...]

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Tags: africa, australia, canada, cardiology, CDC, centers for disease control, chicken pox, Cruise ships, diphtheria, disease outbreaks, e. coli, e.coli germany, eurotravnet, foreign travel, geosentinel, hemophilus meningitis, hepatitis a, hepatitis b, immunizations, international society of travel medicine, istm, Malaria, measles, measles france, menigococcal meningitis, mumps, new zealand, obstetrics, paralysis, pediatrics, pertussis, polio, rubella, russia polio, soviet union, tetanus, varicella, who, whooping cough, World Health Organization

Are your children’s vaccinations up-to-date before traveling by air? According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), in the past year alone there were more than 3,000 known airline passengers traveling while ill with a contagious disease.   1. The aircraft cabin environment abets the spread of disease-causing microorganisms. Infected passengers cough up, sneeze out [...]

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Tags: air travel children, air travel infants, aircraft cabin, CDC, chickenpox, contagious, disease-causing organisms, diseases transmitted, flu epidemics, ill passengers, ill travelers, in flight, infectious illness, influenza vaccination, measles, medical staff, microorganisms, mumps, passengers traveling with disease, pertussis, spreading disease, symptomatic, traveling with infants, typhoid, unvaccinated children, unvaccinated visitors, vaccinated children, vaccination children, vaccine-preventable, yellow fever