Being a victim of diarrhea while on vacation abroad is extremely common, since every year between 20 and 50% of travelers suffer from the famous turista. Some destinations are particularly at risk such as Asia, Africa, the Middle East and South America.
Turista is a term that is defined by the sudden appearance of diarrhea (more than 3 unformed stools per day) in a traveler. It can be accompanied by abdominal cramps, nausea and even vomiting. Its origin is a disturbance of the normal intestinal flora caused by a common germ, a food toxin, a virus or by a change in eating habits. Sometimes the simple stress of travel or the unknown, as well as jet lag, can be enough to trigger a turista in sensitive people.
Turista should not be confused with other more serious infectious diarrheas such as typhoid, salmonellosis or malaria. Therefore, you should be familiar with the two signs of serious diarrhea, which are fever and/or the presence of blood or of pus in the stool. In these cases, it's best not to take any chances and to consult a doctor.
Controversy over means of prevention.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), prevention is based on simple hygiene measures: drinking clean water (bottled water) and cooking food. We should also avoid fruits that we cannot peel ourselves, as well as salads, raw or undercooked meat and dairy products.
Dr. Olivier Bouchaud, head of the infectious diseases department at Avicenne Hospital (Bobigny) has a completely different opinion, but one that is not without relevance: "Many people and many doctors are convinced that the primary culprit in traveler's diarrhea is water. After the water, it's the salad. Close your eyes. Put yourself in the shoes of the most common bacterium involved in traveler's diarrhea, Esherichia coli, for ten seconds. Put yourself in the shoes of a beast like that. What do you choose between a salad leaf, a glass of water, and a good piece of steak? You would obviously choose the piece of chicken or steak! What many people don't realize is that in big 3, 4 or 5 star hotels, where you have big buffets prepared from the morning with things more or less well preserved, which are then served at noon and in the evening, it's lukewarm, the spoon to serve yourself is balanced on the edge so it regularly falls in, so you put your hand in to recover it, you have a hand full of fingers and fingers full of germs, so you put the germs in...It's ideal for transmitting the germs If they went on the sidewalk in front of the hotel to the little women of the corner who serve you a bowl of boiling soup that burns your fingers, the risk there is zero. I'll even push the nail in. It has never been demonstrated that the food precautions imposed on travelers (don't eat this, don't eat that...) are useful. The only thing that has been proven is that washing your hands before eating and after leaving the bathroom prevents traveler's diarrhea. And that's the one thing we never say when we give travel advice about diarrhea."
My travel kit
When I go on vacation, I always take with me 2 bottles of Probiotics (live bacteria that, when ingested in the right amount, have health benefits by improving the gut microbial balance) and 1 bottle of EPP. Probiotics can play both a preventive (3 capsules per day) and curative (9 capsules per day) role in cases of diarrhea.
Grapefruit Seed Extract (GSE) is an antibacterial, antifungal, antimicrobial, antiviral, antiparasitic and preservative. It will therefore be useful in case of intestinal infections and it can also be used for the disinfection of drinking water, for example in tropical countries, in order to avoid amoebiasis, cholera, typhus or paratyphus.
The recommended daily administration is : 2 drops 3 to 4 times a day, during or outside meals. WARNING: never use Grapefruit Seed Extract neat but always diluted in a glass of water, fruit juice, vegetable juice or hot drink.
By Dr. Thierry Schmitz