Some answers to questions on swine flu and travel, especially the swine flu and air travel:
Should I Avoid Travel to Avoid the Swine Flu?
A fear of getting swine flu needn't keep you home; the CDC says of swine flu and travel: "Healthy people may make travel plans as they normally would and take common sense precautions to protect their health during travel." Swine flu, or H1N1, is just the flu; the difference seems to be that we have no immunity to the swine flu, according to Dr. Vincent Ianelli. And Dr. Ianelli says that instead of the swine flu hitting the elderly and very young hardest, as is normal in regular seasonal influenza, "...more than half of the hospitalizations and a quarter of the deaths from swine flu are in young people under the age of 25." Yikes.However, the CDC also says that children under five (particularly under two) and adults aged 65 years or older, pregnant women, and people with conditions like diabetes, heart disease, muscular dystrophy or AIDS, as a few examples, are more likely to suffer complications from the swine flu than otherwise healthy folks, so if that's you, worry not about the swine flu and travel away!
Finally, the WHO (World Health Organization) says in response to the question of whether it is safe to travel in areas with swine flu: "Yes. WHO is not recommending travel restrictions related to the outbreak of the influenza A(H1N1) virus. Today, global travel is commonplace and large numbers of people move around the world for business and leisure. Limiting travel and imposing travel restrictions would have very little effect on stopping the virus from spreading, but would be highly disruptive to the global community."
Can I Fly With the Swine Flu?
If you've got the swine flu and have travel, especially air travel, planned, see if you can postpone: swine flu is contagious, and home is probably the best place for you to be, according to those who know (like the CDC and WHO, which says, "People who are ill should delay travel plans.").Having the swine flu and holding an airline ticket is one of those times when having something like an STA Exclusive student airfare (used to be called the Blue ticket), which allows changes for just a few dollars, really pays. Otherwise, you've got two choices: (1) pay money to change your ticket, (2) try to get the airline to allow you to change your ticket without a fee, or (3) go ahead and fly. About.com's Guide to Air Travel, Arlene Fleming, says you'll likely be able to get on the plane if you're not obviously sick, but our question: can you afford the karma? The CDC says, "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."
Learn more:
- Air Travel During the 2009 - 2010 Flu Season
- Swine Flu and Air Travel Tips and Advice During the H1N1 Pandemic
- Can You Change Your Flights Due to H1N1 / Swine Flu or Fear of It?
- Does Recycled Air Spread Swine Flu on Flights?
- CDC Travel Health Warnings and Notices
Where Can I Find Health Travel Warnings?
Find fairly up-to-date travel health info for any country on your travel horizon from the US guv's CDC; right now, for instance, the CDC has posted a Travel Health Notice on the swine flu (what's a Travel Health Notice?), and the WHO (World Health Organization) posts swine flu news info you can use, too:- CDC Health Travel Notices
- WHO Swine Flu Worldwide Travel Updates
- WHO on Influenza A (H1N1)
- WHO Swine Flu Frequently Asked Questions
What is the CDC?
The CDC, or Center for Disease Control, is an arm of the US government which watches health issues for US citizens, studying plague, flu and other diseases of interest. Just as the US guv State Department issues generaltravel alerts and travel warnings, the CDC -- Center for Disease Control -- also issues health travel warnings and alerts. On the CDC's website, you can choose the country you want to visit and see what's going in the health world there, or check to see if the CDC has issued any travel notices in general.
Aside from health travel warnings and Travel Notices, the CDC provides interesting health travel info you need to know on things like what kind of worms want to crawl into your orifices in South American rivers and how to find health care abroad.
As well, it produces fascinating fireside reading like the The Center for Disease Control and Prevention's Yellow Book, which gives you the skinny on every imaginable horrifying sickness possibility (and some you never imagined) and prevention thereof (including NONE), where you can pick up appalling bugs and vicious viruses, and observations regarding hitherto seemingly simple travel stuff like flying: "discomfort" (think abject agony) from sinus infections and "abdominal bloating" (think uncontrollable farting and general seatmate malcontentedness).
Learn more about health, disease and travel:
