Travel Health & Medicine

(Dive Travel Business News - April 26, 2012) -- On April 11, 2012, Divers Alert Network^® (DAN^®) debuted a new way for scuba divers to engage with dive safety experts though live chats on Facebook. The first chat was an unqualified success as divers gathered to discuss the triggers of diving fatalities with DAN President Dan Orr.

“It was great,” said Orr. “From the first comment, it was a very lively experience with divers joining in from as far away as the U.K. It was a fantastic way for divers to communicate with DAN and engage with each other in real time on topics directly relevant to dive safety.”

Unlike formal presentations, the hour-long sessions are exactly what the name implies: real-time chats that allow the exchange of questions, thoughts, ideas and opinions between divers and experts at DAN. Some topics are chosen by DAN, but already several have been added to the schedule based on participant feedback and requests.

Upcoming chats include: read more »

(Dive Travel Business News - January 7, 2012) -- The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office has issued new travel advice for flood-hit Thailand. The last six months have been a difficult time for the Far Eastern nation, with excessive monsoon rains leaving many areas under water – and new downpours in the southern regions have led to the FCO publishing a new travel warning.

Recent downpours have caused mudslides in the south, and dangerously swollen seas in the Gulf of Thailand. Heavy rainfall has caused landslides and flooding in some districts of the far southern provinces of Narathiwat, Yala, Pattani, Songkhla, Phattalung, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Chumphon, Trang and Krabi. The west coast region of Krabi, in particular, is a significant destination for sun-seekers, who come for beaches that can often be quieter than more popular areas such as Phuket.

Last week saw the official death toll from the floods rise above 800, with Thailand’s head of state King Bhumibol Adulyadej decrying the chaos caused by the rising waters. read more »

(Dive Travel Business News - October 28, 2010) -- As the World Health Organization (WHO) warns that the cholera epidemic in Haiti -with more than 292 deaths and 4,147 infected- still hasn’t reached its peak, Dominican authorities extend its "sanitary loop" to the country’s east and north tourism regions, where most of the tourism industry is based.

On Wednesday Health minister Bautista Rojas and other Government officials implemented a sanitary response to keep the epidemic from affecting the tourism regions.

Julio Llibre, head of the hoteliers and tourism businesses grouped in Asonahores yesterday urged stricter controls at the border to keep the disease out of the country. He said it’s necessary to keep the epidemic from threatening Dominican tourism’s stability and sustainability at all costs.

“We would really want that the announced control at the border be just a bit stricter, because I understand it is required, the creation of a sanitary loop along the entire border is needed, which at least prevents travel by people who can be infected." read more »

(Center for Disease Control - Nov 15, 2009) -- Due to the circulation of 2009 H1N1 influenza in the United States and many other countries, airport staff in some foreign countries may check the health of arriving passengers. Many other countries, including Japan and China, are screening arriving passengers for symptoms of the flu.

If you are sick with symptoms of flu-like illness, you should not travel. These symptoms include fever, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, body aches, headache, chills, and fatigue. Some people may also have vomiting and diarrhea. People may be infected with the flu and have respiratory symptoms without a fever.

The United States is not screening travelers who arrive from other countries or depart for other countries. read more »