Archive for the 'Healthy Traveler' Category
Where Americans die abroad, and why: By the numbers
November 9, 2009 5:58am
Of course you should beware of crime while planning and making your next international trip. But the numbers say that if you’re among the unlucky few to die, a car, bus or motorcycle is more likely to kill you.
Death by traffic is a recurring theme in a fascinating State Department Web page that I came across last week.
For instance, by the department’s count, of at least 126 Americans who died of “non-natural causes” in Mexico in the first half of 2009, at least 45 perished in vehicle accidents. The figure for homicides: 36. The figure for drownings: at least 22, 10 of them in Baja California Sur (which includes Los Cabos and La Paz) and seven in the state of Quintana Roo (which includes Cancun and Cozumel). Other types of accidents, and suicides, accounted for the rest.
Keep in mind that during that spell from January through June 2009, about 2.6 million Americans boarded flights to Mexico and many more visited by car or ship. The odds overwhelmingly suggest that your vacation will be nonfatal.
Flu shots, including H1N1, arriving soon at or near LAX
September 28, 2009 5:32pm
With summer now officially over, flu season is right around the corner. Again, as has been the case in recent years, airports are among the places where people are rolling up their sleeves for their shots.
Due to concerns about the potential severity of the coming flu season, some airport clinics started offering the inoculations around Labor Day, USA Today reported.
Because of delays in the production of the regular flu vaccine, Reliant Immediate Care Medical Group, at the LAX Airport Clinic, does not yet have its vaccines in stock, according to Gene Howell, the group’s executive director. But it will soon.
Howell said he expects his supplies to be in later this week. As was the case last year, travelers interested in the vaccine can take a courtesy shuttle from any LAX terminal to the clinic, located near the airport on Sepulveda Boulevard at West 96th Street. The first aid office (number below) can arrange a pickup. The clinic also offers free on-site parking.
And stay tuned, because an effort is being made to provide shots at the airport itself this season. Read the rest of this entry »
Under the Blue Flag: Clean beaches in 39 countries around the world
September 3, 2009 5:55am
Look for the blue flag before you take the plunge. That’s the sign that the beach or marina you’re visiting meets environmental standards established and monitored annually by the International Blue Flag Program, headquartered in Copenhagen.
The program, which originated in France in 1985, administers spot checks of candidate sites, ascertaining water quality and the absence of hazardous waste. A jury composed of environmentalists from groups such as the United Nations World Tourism Organization and the European Union for Coastal Conservation then makes the final selections.
The U.S. doesn’t participate in the program, but lots of other places do. This year more than 3,300 beaches and marinas in 39 countries have won blue flags, including Gdansk Marina in Poland, Bikini Beach in Cape Town, South Africa, and Sperlonga in Italy. A complete list is available at www.blueflag.org.
—Susan Spano, Los Angeles Times staff writer
Photo: Sperlonga, an Italian Blue Flag beach near Rome. Credit: Susan Spano/Los Angeles Times
Sandal helps stamp out over-pronation (and looks great)
June 21, 2009 12:49pm
For summertime travel — not to mention wading across streams and scrambling over boulders — I’m a big fan of Chaco sandals from a feisty Colorado company run by Mark Paigen, a former whitewater-rafting guide.
Amphibious, durable and bearing the seal of the American Podiatric Medical Assn., Chaco’s BioCentric footbed, with its sculpted heel cup and arch support, was designed to combat muscular stress caused when the feet roll too far inward (known as over-pronation). As a result, the sandal can be worn comfortably all day while tramping across the old stones of the Roman Forum or over slickrock in southern Utah.
Pandemic swine flu now in 74 countries; links to statistics and resources
June 11, 2009 9:36am
Since it first hit Mexico in April, we’ve seen various waves of reaction to swine flu, from panic to nonchalance. But in the U.S. and internationally, the H1N1 virus has steadily been marching on, becoming increasingly widespread (though not more deadly).
And now, the World Health Organization has officially declared the virus a global flu pandemic, the first in 41 years. (The 1968 flu pandemic caused about 1 million deaths around the world.) According to an Associated Press report this morning: “The move came today as infections climbed in the United States, Europe, Australia, South America and elsewhere.”
Though the spotlight was, for some time, on Mexico, on May 15, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the U.S. lifted its swine flu travel advisory there. As the disease has been more widely transmitted, it has affected tourism industries and individual tourists in various destinations, including Hawaii and Hong Kong.
According to the World Health Organization’s influenza A (H1N1) update on Wednesday, 74 countries have confirmed cases of swine flu, which total 27,737 worldwide. Read the rest of this entry »
Can Mexico City win back tourists with free health insurance?
June 7, 2009 9:16am
The Financial Times reported Saturday on a new plan by Mexico City’s government to attract tourists after the swine flu did a number on its tourism sector.
Yes, there is a coupon book in the works, which would offer discounts at hotels, theaters and other businesses. But far more surprising is what the city will soon be offering to foreigners for free: medical coverage. As stated in the London-based publication:
“[I]n the aftermath of the A/H1N1 flu virus, which has claimed the lives of 106 people in the country and devastated tourism, the city government has decided to offer holidaymakers free medical insurance — whether it be to cover migraine, a broken bone or even emergency heart surgery. Read the rest of this entry »
Hawaii: Swine flu keeps tourists at bay, may cost state millions
May 19, 2009 3:39pm
Hawaii tourism just can’t catch a break lately. If there was once hope that the islands might receive a small boost from vacationers looking for alternatives to Mexico following swine flu’s first breakout, the mood reported on the islands now seems rather dismal.
On May 5, Hawaii confirmed its first case of novel H1N1 influenza. Today, the state has 30 confirmed cases, according to the Hawaii Dept. of Health website. Fearful of the swine flu, would-be visitors — especially those from Japan, who are dealing with an outbreak on their home turf — have been opting to stay away.
And this is a major blow to the already distressed economy. According to a Honolulu Advertiser article “Hawaii swine flu scaring off tourists“:
The number of Japanese visitors arriving in Hawai’i plunged over the last two weeks amid swine-flu fears - even though Hawai’i cases have remained few and mild - and cancellations over the next few months are likely to cost the state millions more in lost revenue. Read the rest of this entry »
Sudden jump of swine flu cases in Japan
May 18, 2009 11:06am
Over the weekend, a swine flu outbreak in Japan has intensified, making the island-nation the most affected country in the world outside of North America. The World Health Organization has not raised the level of the world’s swine flu alert, as of yet.
Four people thought to have caught the H1N1 virus outside of Japan made up the total confirmed cases as of Friday, according to the Associated Press. But by Saturday, a case of local transmission of the virus was confirmed in Kobe. Then newly reported cases were confirmed in the Kobe and Osaka areas as well as four at the Tokyo airport. The total number of locally transmitted cases is now 135.
This recent outbreak makes Japan “the fourth-most infected country in the world, after Mexico, the United States and Canada,” according to an NTV report cited by the Associated Press.
Worldwide, 40 countries have officially reported 8,829 cases of H1N1 infection and the flu has caused 74 deaths, according to the WHO. The sixth U.S. death was reported on Sunday. Read the rest of this entry »
Are you ready to rebook your Mexican holiday?
May 8, 2009 11:22am
Precautions for the H1N1 swine flu virus seem to be easing a bit now. There was so much attention paid when schools and businesses were closing, but is Mexico’s attempt to return to normalcy falling on deaf ears? On Wednesday, Mexico’s first lady, Margarita Zavala, greeted dozens of passengers at Mexico City International Airport as they arrived on a government-charted Aeromexico flight. Several Mexican tourists had been quarantined in China at hospitals and hotels despite showing no signs of flu symptoms. Businesses began to reopen Thursday, with restaurants seating at every other table and movie theaters leaving a circle of empty seats around customers. But how long will it take for business to be business as usual - especially in the tourism industry? At the end of the Los Angeles Times article “Mexico’s return to normalcy anything but,” we were left thinking about this quote:
“The reality,” said Mexican epidemiologist Dr. Alejandro Macias, “is we are not returning to normal. The virus is here to stay. It’s here for months, probably years.”
But what is the vibe among tourists traveling to Mexico? You tell me. Are you going or not going to Mexico this summer?
This morning, Chris Christensen of the Amateur Traveler podcast, put a post on Twitter saying, “Am I crazy that I would hop right back on a plane and go to Oaxaca, even last week with the swine flu hysteria?”
Swine flu: Tourists, employees, quarantined at Hong Kong’s Metropark Hotel
May 2, 2009 10:23am
With the SARS outbreak in 2003 not close to forgotten, Hong Kong authorities have acted decisively and swiftly in response to Asia’s first confirmed case of swine flu. On Friday night, after a 25-year-old man visiting from Mexico was diagnosed with the H1N1 flu, officials shut down the hotel where he was staying, quarantining tourists and employees.
The 200 or so guests and 100 staff have been ordered to stay inside Metropark Hotel in the Wanchai district for seven days, according to a Reuters report. The building is being guarded by masked police officers.
Hotel guest Juliet Keys, who arrived in Hong Kong from Singapore, told Reuters that guests were briefed by health officials, and that she was given a medical check and a 10-day course of Tamiflu.
Though guests’ reactions to the quarantine vary widely in media reports — from occasional humor to frustration and worse — a business traveler from India was apparently not anxious. “I’m not worried, but there are some people who are really panicked,” he told the Associated Press. Read the rest of this entry »
