24
2015
Traveller’s Diarrhoea
It is the year end and that means the long holiday is here again. Many of us including myself have already made plans for the family. When we are on a holiday, dining out is simply unavoidable. This puts us at risk of consuming contaminated food or drink because food hygiene standards can be extremely low depending on the destination and the season of travel. Children are especially susceptible to Traveller’s Diarrhoea (TD).
We learned our lesson the hard way during our family holiday trip earlier this year when Ethan fell ill on the second last day of our vacation and had dreadful episodes of vomiting and diarrhoea after dinner. We did not bring any medication for diarrhoea and did not know where the nearest clinic was. We thought of letting him sleep through the night and bring him to the clinic first thing in the morning if his condition deteriorated but he continued purging badly.
We brought him to look for a 24 hours clinic at midnight. I had to give him an empty plastic bag on our way to the clinic in case he needed to vomit in the car.
Ethan had food poisoning on the second last day of our vacation earlier this year.
As we were not familiar with the area, it took us some time before locating the clinic. Thank goodness I gave Ethan an empty plastic bag as he vomited in the car on our way there.
After giving Ethan a jab to stop the vomiting, the doctor prescribed Smecta for acute diarrhoea treatment. We were told its unique structure is able to adsorb bacteria, virus and toxin and clears it from the body system. The doctor also advised Ethan to get more rest as he already lost a lot of fluid earlier.
I did not sleep much that night as I stayed awake monitoring Ethan’s condition. The pain of a child having diarrhoea during a family holiday trip is no laughing matter. It puts the entire family at risk too. We had to cut short our trip and headed back home first thing in the morning.
It was an exhausting experience I never wish to be repeated. I always bring basic medication such as fever, flu and cough med during travel but this time I make sure to be prepared in case of diarrhoea again *touch wood*.
Since the doctor prescribed Smecta during Ethan’s food poisoning episode, we bought the same thing from the pharmacy for our trip. The pharmacist packed it in a specially designed dispensing bag convenient for travelling and included a children activity booklet to keep the kids occupied.
The boys are already enjoying the activity book. It kept them occupied while waiting for their meals.
We are prepared for our trip down South now. I will update more when we return. Till then, happy holidays.
For more information, visit www.smecta.com.my
Good idea to pack your meds for any touch wood situations. Our neighbor down south has ridiculously expensive meds and it seems you can’t just pop in to buy without a prescription. In fact I think a lot of our neighbors head over to JB to buy prescription meds instead.
Oh really? I did not know that. But yeah, I brought the entire ‘collection’ of medication including this for touch wood situations.
Pity him. :/ Glad that you guys were prepared.
Your two boys are all grown up now. Time flies. Ha :D
my mom never failed to bring meds on her bag every time we travel… she has meds for headache, dizzyness, LBM, sore throat and more.. yes, she’s like a walking pharmacy to us LOL
It is good to be prepared for holiday. My hubby is the one with medicines like panadol, cool fever, flu and cough syrup. Hmm. Now I should add diarrhoea in the list too.