Roatan - illness?

[DocVikingo]

Other diseases you need to be aware of though may not encounter (depending on your itinerary) include Hepatitis A (usually from drinking dirty water) and (apparently) Bilharzia (the snail-borne illness you're talking about, which infests from immersion in some stagnant water).

Bilharzia (aka schistosomiasis) occurs only from contact with fresh water and that water does not need to be stagnant. Roatan is not considered a high risk area.

Hep A is usually spread by a fecal-oral route, including drinking infected water. Many travel medicine specialists believe that vaccination against this form of hepatitis is prudent for those going to developing areas.

This is educational only and does not constitute or imply a doctor-patient relationship. It is not medical advice to you or any other individual, and should not be construed as such.

Best regards.

DocVikingo

 

[MN Lakeman]

Can most of these be avoided by using insect repellent....?

I got back from a great week of diving @ Fantasy Island last month, & can honestly say I did not get a single bite f/ those pesky no see' ums. I realize some people just don't seem to be magnets to little varmits - but they usually luv me (live in Minnesota, & do a lot of camping w/ our "state bird", the mosquito). After becoming well informed by this great forum on this issue, I brought along my favorite repellant - Ultrathon, which I buy @ REI (made by 3M). The lotion formula has at least 25% DEET, & applied once every morning seems to stay on even after a couple dives (not sure what it does to my 3m full suit!). Several people on our boat were covered w/ red spots, but I think they were often laying out on the lounge chairs @ the sandy beach through out the week.

 

[jawfish]

Roatan is very safe, both from parasites and the water. I spent 16 days there without incedent. I stayed at the Fantasy Island Resort and visited CoCo View and AKR while there. I was a bug magnet, but that is normal for me!

 

[DocVikingo]

Roatan is very safe, both from parasites and the water. I spent 16 days there without incedent. I stayed at the Fantasy Island Resort and visited CoCo View and AKR while there. I was a bug magnet, but that is normal for me!

What official or recognized health sources/statistics are the basis for your opinion?

Best regards.

DocVikingo

 

[Cudabait]

Roatan is very safe, both from parasites and the water. I spent 16 days there without incedent. I stayed at the Fantasy Island Resort and visited CoCo View and AKR while there. I was a bug magnet, but that is normal for me!

Jawfish.......

You may wish to define your benchmark for "safe", etc.

Regards,

 

[Doc]

Jawfish..You may wish to define your benchmark for "safe", etc.

"Safe" to me means returning no worse for wear. If I wanted to be really safe, I wouldn't leave the house, but then again- most accidents occur around the house- but then again that's where most people are most of the time so I suppose that's why most accidents occur there. If I leave the house, much less travel to a third world country with equivelant medical services and sanitation... ahhh- the risk makes me feel so alive!

Some years ago the DEMA researchers figured out that new divers sign up to learn but for any other reason than "to be safe". Quite the contrary, we know that we get new divers that want to join the ranks of risk takers! So, since diving in reality is all that safe, why not just get people all nutty and amplify their fears about the other risks? Shark movie didn't work?


Me? I state common sense, simple messages. Bug bites on Roatan? See http://www.websitetoolbox.com/tool/post/ccv/vpost?id=76&highlight=bugs for my real life, first hand observational story (may a bit anecdotal, but easier reading than faux medical hyperbolae).

It's part of the pain and suffering one endures in paradise. You're coming either way, right? Drugs carried in anticipation...or not! I have made 30+ trips to the Bay Islands, 25 to CCV. Altough a very few others have- I've never noted a mosquito on the property.

I drink my DEET with regularity (and Flor de Cana rum) and you betcha I always do before leaving the CCV private cay to go to any town on the Bay Islands. I eat the food and water at the AI resorts and do not eat or drink anywhere else- but for a very few select restauarants- and then I am risking a bit more exposure. The risk makes the food so much better! Prophylaxis meds? Take the malarial stuff if you find that is appropriate... asking here for advice is a waste of bandwidth (try a 'search') and your time, because remember:


Go have fun. If you live seven wonderful days in paradise, what's a few days taken off of the end of your life? SCUBA diving and travel is inherently a risky endeavor- take the easily researched meds and preventatives if you wish, hell- even wear the Hartz flea collars as anklets (get's me kinda frisky!) - and I have seen it done...

But coming here to the internet to calm one's fears is foolish. Do a little research, make up your own risk profile. Go, dive and have fun.

 

[lsudive]

Thanks for your reply, RoatanMan, but I don't really appreciate being called "foolish." I don't think it is foolish for asking the opinion of folks who have been to Roatan and either experienced or not experienced the problems of which the CDC advises travellers. I prefer not to get malaria or turista when I can help it. Should I also not read any travel books, as that might be a waste of my time also? I found it less a waste of time to post the question here than to scroll through all the previous posts. I take everything I read on the internet with a grain of salt, and then make a decision about it. Thanks again for your concern about my time, energy, intelligence, and how much bandwidth I take up with my foolish questions.

 

[Doc]

I don't really appreciate being called "foolish." I don't think it is foolish for asking the opinion of folks who have been to Roatan. I prefer not to get malaria or turista when I can help it. Should I also not read any travel books, as that might be a waste of my time also? I found it less a waste of time to post the question here than to scroll through all the previous posts. I take everything I read on the internet with a grain of salt, and then make a decision about it. Thanks again for your concern about my time, energy, intelligence, and how much bandwidth I take up with my foolish questions.

Read with care, this your fourth post. I was posting and answering to the deffinition of "safe". I would not call you foolish, I merely stated a caution against the value of the effort so expended. My bandwidth statement is as stands: Use a search. You said it all for your point of view: "I found it less a waste of time to post the question here than scroll thriough all the previous posts". Use a search. Take it with a grain of salt, or so you said. See the 15 seperate threads already extant at http://www.scubaboard.com/search.php?searchid=846168 or http://www.scubaboard.com/search.php?searchid=846178

You ask, "Should I also not read any travel books, as that might be a waste of my time also?" No, I don't recommend any travel book about the Bay Islands. Firstly- as a medical reference, they are woefuly out of date- better to check the CDC website, but be very specific about the Bay Islands vs. the Mainland. Secondly, as a travel guide, I have yet to see any one text (and it is my belief that I have seen them all) that really speaks about any expanse of Bay Islands opportunities in any breadth. They are all fairly myopic and microscopic in terms of variety and detail. ScubaBoard is your best resource. With a search here, see: http://www.scubaboard.com/search.php?searchid=846159 and learn about the other things to do besides dive. Where to dine out? http://www.scubaboard.com/search.php?searchid=846161 It's all here.

To my quote: "But coming here to the internet to calm one's fears is foolish. Do a little research, make up your own risk profile. Go, dive and have fun."

The point was, life is a series of risks- or it means nothing. Post what you decide to do, then, upon your return, be sure to post a trip report detailing your precautions as well as results... and of course... diving!

 

[peterbj7]

To get back to the subject of health. Many years ago I contracted Hepatitis "A" in Egypt from a bottle of water that had been refilled. I thought the waiter opened it at the table but realised too late that he had merely clicked his tongue. If there is the remotest possibility of contracting Hep "A" in Roatan get protection against it. It was a dreadful experience that has largely prevented me from drinking alcohol ever since, and led directly some years later to my becoming diabetic.

 

[DandyDon]

To get back to the subject of health. Many years ago I contracted Hepatitis "A" in Egypt from a bottle of water that had been refilled. I thought the waiter opened it at the table but realised too late that he had merely clicked his tongue. If there is the remotest possibility of contracting Hep "A" in Roatan get protection against it. It was a dreadful experience that has largely prevented me from drinking alcohol ever since, and led directly some years later to my becoming diabetic.

Damn! Yeah, it's fun to explore other locales and dive other sites, and the challenges of doing it all reasonably carefully can be part of the adventure.

I do take more precautions than most, I suppose, but I am not a safe person by nature, so I work at it. Hep A & B vaccines completed, check to see if my Tetnus booster is up to date, pneumonia shots up to date since I don't qualify for flu shots this year, treat my own water, frequent bug spray, etc. Anyone who can find their way here can find their way to CDC and State Dept advisories and consider them.

I also board every boat with a number of first aid treatments. Treated on fellow this weekend with alcohol & antispetic oinments, and gave him a quick warning that if the wound looked at all worse in the morning that he needs to go to the ER, as he doesn't have time for an appointment. Turned out he was a physician, but he may not be aware of saltwater infections possilble if he's not local. Didn't visit with him much, as we were distracted by an pulminary embolism in another diver. Also treated another diver with antihistamine and hydrocortizone ointment for hives he picked up - perhaps from the chicked he at the night before, and another with vinegar and calamine after a jellyfish sting. And all this was off of Key Largo Florida! :shades: