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When you bring Back More than a Good Deal

While the purpose of a business trip is to achieve certain business goals and tasks, many business travellers return each year with more than a good business deal. For some this might be an illness contracted through either contact with contaminated food or water, mosquitoes or person-to-person contact with a contagious disease. For others a moment, either planned or unplanned, with a person of the same or opposite sex can have devastating results back home in the form of sexually contracted disease, aids or even the destruction of family relationships.

Recognising a problem

If you experience any unusual symptoms on return or know you could be at risk, see your doctor as soon as possible to discuss your risk and receive the necessary tests. Make sure your doctor is aware of the countries you have visited, how long you have been away and the medication your have been taking while you have been away. It is also important to know the departure and return date as this could help in identifying tropical disease according to their incubation times.

Think Malaria

If you are a frequent traveller and have been to a malaria zone in the last year, mention this to your doctor, even if the last trip you took was not a malaria region. Take a list of the anti-malarials you have taken and whether you took them for the length of time suggested. If you have been to a malarious zone within three months and develop a fever or suspicious symptoms go immediately to your local A&E department for a malaria test.

Give the full picture

If you had your vaccinations at a travel clinic that is not related to your usual surgery take your vaccination card so that your doctor is aware of your vaccination history. Do not leave your doctor to do guess work. If you know you have acted in a manner that could put you at risk of a sexually transmitted disease tell him or her. Worries regarding sexually transmitted diseases can also be dealt with at your local STD clinic. Any consultation will be in the strictest of confidence and it is better to get treatment quickly for a problem.

If you suffer from diarrhoea after you return, take a specimen with you when you see your doctor. Some forms of parasite can cause diarrhoea starting a week or more after you return.

Not all infections caught on trips overseas are tropical, and if you find yourself feeling unwell due to a respiratory infection or other common infection, see your doctor if this does not clear up in what you would consider a 'normal' recovery time.

While a rash could indicate that you have had too much sun, it could also indicate a more serious complaint such as a drug reaction, typhoid or dengue fever. It is important that you are aware of your skin and learn to recognise changes in the skin. Any bleeding or itching or growth of moles should always be reported to your doctor.

It is important that you also consider your mental health when you are travelling frequently. If you experience any difficulties while you are away that need to be discussed with either a manager or counsellor, it is important you do so. Travel allows us to experience many cultures and aspects of life, but it also puts us at risk of experiencing sides of life that many people find hard to deal with alone. It is not a weakness to admit the need for help in dealing with such issues.