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Travelers to tropical areas have little appreciation of the real risks posed by exotic environments, a leading travel medicine expert has said.
Dr. Joshua Ellison, Medical Director of Unique Expeditions, said Independentof the Daily Travel Podcast: “The thing people are always worried about are all the creepy crawlies and animals.” snake And spiders. But really, the best advice I can give anyone for staying healthy and comfortable is JUNGLE This is to make sure you don’t get too hot.
“The greatest thing about the jungle is the heat and humidity. Don’t come down with heat exhaustion.” heat strokeI see this more often than people getting bitten by an anaconda or something,
Despite the heat, Dr Allison says it’s important to be “fully covered” to protect against many risks.
He prescribed: “Long trousers, long sleeve shirt, a peaked cap or baseball cap to make sure the vines – the rattan that hangs down and is sometimes incredibly thin – don’t catch you in the face. The braid keeps it out of your eyes.”
Mosquitoes are a known threat, carrying malaria, dengue fever and the rapid spread of malaria. Chikungunya,
Dr Ellison, who has explored many forests around the world, said: “Use Mosquito Nets, repellents and malaria prevention if you are in that type of area.
“But heat is a big problem. I have seen very few people suffering from malaria and comparatively few people suffering from dengue – and there are a large number of people who we have to live in a puddle or a river because they are so hot, wearing all their clothes.
“It’s much more common to wear a very heavy backpack, walk through the woods, and look worse than to be bitten by a mosquito.”
He also warned about the importance of keeping feet dry and wearing proper shoes to avoid immersing your feet in hot water — “This is where the bottom of your foot basically falls,” he said.
“Wilderness boots are incredibly important. It’s wet, it’s humid, you’re probably walking through ravines and swamps. If you wear normal boots, they’re completely filled with water.
“People often think of trench foot, which is immersion foot in cold water. Immersion foot in warm water is similar, but you’re in a warmer environment, you have really good blood flow to your feet. It’s more associated with fungal, but also bacterial infections.
“If you go from one day to the next and your feet are still wet, it won’t take much longer to get you into withdrawal than into withdrawal – two or three days.
“So make sure you take good foot care every evening. Rub your feet with an alcohol gel to get all the moisture out. We have a mycota or antifungal foot powder that everyone rubs on their feet to really dry them out.”
Dr. Ellison said that it is important to sleep in a hammock between two trees instead of a tent at night.
“I can’t even imagine living in a tent. The tent is on the floor: you’ll be attacked by all kinds of snakes, scorpions, insects. Surviving at night means staying in a hammock – a nice comfortable, expedition-grade hammock with a nice flat lie – and treating your hammock with permethrin or some other strong insecticide.”
The travel medicine specialist works on expeditions into wilderness areas around the world, including polar expeditions. But Dr. Ellison is happiest in the woods, he said.
“They say the forest is neutral. It has everything you need to survive, but it also has everything trying to kill you. I quite like that.
“with arctic Or on mountain expeditions, you have to carry everything with you to go through that experience.
“Whereas the woods – if you have a sharp knife or a machete – can pretty much take care of themselves if you know enough things.”