im planing to go to vietnam on sept, and im reading everything what i can about this region, on lonely planet site i have found information "Travel Warning: Cholera Risk" what do you think about it? they say also "Travellers should take care not to consume food that might be contaminated, or that has been prepared in uncertain hygienic conditions." its hard to imagine to not eat on the streets ...
Reply to this S.E. Asia, either you are born with a cast iron stomach or you better be careful. if you think that warning is bad, wait till you see how the street vendor food is prepared around here, just looking at some of the unsanitary conditions is enough to send you to hospital for a few days.
seriously though, anywhere in s.e. asia you better be careful. don't drink water unless you broke the seal, don't let them add ice cubes to your drink, be careful around street vendor soups, stick to foods that are on a grill, preferably over an open flame and you'll be alright.
Reply to this thanks😊 do you think that hygenic conditions are much more worse than in thailand? i was there and had no stomach problems...
Reply to this Hello Alicja 😊
From what I understand of what I just read on Wikipedia about Cholera it is spread through contaminated water.
It says nothing about food. But I suppose if food is prepared in unhygenic conditions it might get contaminated.
Apparently the big risk with Cholera is rapid dehydratration and diarrhea. I would take some rapid rehydration solution with me if I was going to such a high risk place just in case I get Cholera symptoms despite taking precautions. Then after you use the rehydration solution get yourself to a hospital as fast as you can so they can test for Cholera and give you the appropriate antibiotics. It is a killer disease, not to be taken lightly.
Be sure to take something to measure out water in for the rehydration solution. It is important to get the liquid to powder ratio right when you mix it. One of those kitchen jugs with a measuring grid on it will do. The rehydration solution powder should be availabe at you local pharmacy where you live. Buy it before you leave your courtry to make sure the instructions on the packet are in your own language so there would no confusion with that, if you get sick.
Anyway, here is the wiki link so you can read it all for yourself.
Cholera
Mel
Reply to this Hi, depending where you are, you can get a vaccine for Cholera before you go. It's taken orally, 2 doses over 7 days.
Reply to this we're in vietnam, and two days ago i read an interesting article in a travellers magazine that said the same thing. apparentlly there IS an outbreak right now. the magazine was issued in april, and the article said that of 1300 cases of diarrea about 300 tested positive for cholera. it said cholera is most commonlly transmitted through fermented shrimp paste and improperlly washed vegetables, and then went on to interview a woman who was washing her vegetables in lake with black water while a dead cat was floating by. just a little bit concerning!! it also said that of the 14000 street vendors, only about 40% of them meet santitation standards.
we've been here about a month and haven't gotten sick! eat in clean "looking" restaurants and cross your fingers and toes and you might be ok 😉 for us it's sorta something we feel we don't have much control over... but we have travellers insurance, just incase!
Reply to this ....a woman who was washing her vegetables in lake with black water while a dead cat was floating by.....
This makes me wonder what she thinks is the purpose of washing the vegetables. :D
Reply to this haha, i know hey??? i guess the interviewer pointed out the color of the water and the bloated cat, but the lady said that she has to wash her vegetables SOMEWHERE ... i guess she has a point. lol. still made us squirmy and we've been dodging salads ever since! 😉
Reply to this Alicjusia,
The hygenic conditions in Vietnam are very close to Thailand's, so no worries! Cambodia and Laos are definitely the worst.
cholora outbreak affected mainly local Vietnameses who were eating popular fermented shrimp paste which has been blamed for up to half the cases.
Two Canadians Eh,
Vietnam doesn't have hundreds of thousand lakes as Canada does. Just afew big lakes in the remote area such as Ba Be, and maybe two more.
small lakes in the city or tourist area: 1 in Dalat and about 10 in Hanoi. However, all of them were surrounded by street. Nobody went there for washing or bathing, it's forbiden! Some went for fishing. (To the contrary, in the Mekong Delta, people live right on the river banks)
Cat mostly doesn't like water, so they always keep themselves away from it.
Bearing in mind, in SEA, many people eat cat meat.
Reply to this Hello Paulle 😊
It is important that we heed all safety warnings when we travel, so please be patient while we do our research.
Mel
Reply to this I had a year in asia travelling around - lost 20kg and had bad stomachs often despite care (bottled water, boiling water, no salads etcetc) , BUT...budget traveller and had the time of my life ....
do you want to be adventurous or safe? depends on how much money you are prepared to spend I think!
Reply to this I moved this to the travel news and discussion forum.
I think it is a good thing to be as safe as possible while travelling. Cholera is a potentially fatal disease and we should be very aware of the symptoms and take every percaution against getting it, in my opinion.
Mel
Reply to this hi paulle,
we know vietnam doesn't have the same number of lakes canada has, i wasn't intending to imply that they do. although there might not be many "lakes" in the country, there are certainlly many smaller rivers or streams or pockets of water, and we've seen people wading in them and washing their clothes or vegetables a few times. as for the cat ... maybe it died and some just threw it in??
i am not sure what the point in your response was? i was passing along information that i read in an article, not attempting to ruffle your feathers! have a good day!
Reply to this I was in Hanoi during the "huge" cholera outbreak in last November. It didn't stop me from eating street foods. I think these reports are usually accurate but sensationalized.
The last outbreak in Hanoi affected a little over a hundred people. I think the population of the city is close to 4 million, which translates to about 0.0025% of the population.
Don't worry.
Reply to this Well yeah, it always seems more frightening when one reads the information which is concentrated in media articles than when one is in the country distracted by other aspects of travelling in that country....
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