On 24/01/2015 1:25 PM, dsi2 wrote:
> On 1/23/2015 2:07 PM, Xeno wrote:
>> On 24/01/2015 10:32 AM, Janet Wilder wrote:
>>> On 1/23/2015 4:25 PM, Xeno wrote:
>>>> On 24/01/2015 7:47 AM, Sqwertz wrote:
>>>>> On Fri, 23 Jan 2015 13:36:36 -0600, Janet Wilder wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> Neither of us can tolerate hot-spicy foods. What are some things
>>>>>> in Ho
>>>>>> Chi Minh City that you all would recommend we order?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> No chicken--the travel nurse said not to order chicken because of
>>>>>> bird flu.
>>>>>
>>>>> Your nurse is paranoid and over-reactive. You stand a much better
>>>>> chance of getting salmonella or listeria here in the U.S. than you do
>>>>> getting bird flu in SE Asia. Your best bet in Vietnam right now is
>>>>> contracting measles more than anything else.
>>>>>
>>>>> -sw
>>>>>
>>>> True. It seems the only people who contract bird flu are those who work
>>>> full time with live chickens. The paranoia spreads far more readily
>>>> than
>>>> the bird flu does.
>>>>
>>> It was my friend's travel nurse who is with Kaiser. It is in Kaiser's
>>> literature on traveling to those countries.
>>>
>>> I've had more than my share of health issues and I live with (currently
>>> in remission) lung cancer, so please understand if I'm a bit over
>>> cautious.
>>>
>> I understand health issues quite well. My point is that all too often
>> people focus on the item they are least likely to become infected by and
>> forget the more subtle ones. As an example, on my last trip to Thailand
>> in 2001, I visited the family farm in Ayuttaya. I took a look inside the
>> water tanks, something you should always do. I had been drinking from
>> the local rainwater tanks on previous trips but this time the tanks had
>> mosquitoes in them, Not a good sign. The people were getting old I guess
>> and didn't maintain the tanks as well as they should have been. Anyway,
>> on seeing the mosquitoes, I determined then and there that I would only
>> drink bottled water for the duration. I was brought undone by my brother
>> in law who topped up my water bottle from the tank... it didn't affect
>> them as they were immune. I partook of but a sip before I realized that
>> the water tasted strange. That tiny sip was enough. Within 2 hours the
>> fever had begun and I was pretty much stuffed for the next two weeks of
>> my time in Thailand. Unfortunately that episode left me with some rather
>> long term consequences. On my return to work I lasted about 2 or 3 weeks
>> before it became acutely apparent that I wasn't recovered. I spent 6
>> months on sick leave, another 18 months on provisional retirement, then
>> permanent retirement since. I have only just begun to make reasonable
>> progress back to good health in the past 2 or 3 years but I am still not
>> back to where I was nor am I likely to be again.
>>
>> All for the sake of a sip of water.
>>
>> For the record, everyone else drank that water, including my wife, but
>> they had no issues - immunity developed over their lifetimes being the
>> key.
>>
>
> Sorry to hear this - that's one shitty deal. What did you get infected
> with?

The doctors at the hospital I ended up in had no idea. By the time I got
there, the nasty had wreaked its havoc and moved on leaving me quite
debilitated. All they told me was that, given the symptoms, it was most
likely a virus. I suspect it might have been a form of Dengue though
they hang around for quite some time in an active state. A friend of
mine got infected with that when he was working offshore in Indonesia.
He ended up in Jakarta, then Singapore and they eventually medivacced
him to Fairfield Infectious Diseases Hospital in Melbourne. He was off
work for up to a year from memory. He has lived permanently in Thailand
now for the past 30 odd years so I hope he has built up an immunity in
that time....

The obvious answer is to avoid contact with water that has not been
extensively purified. I remember when I was in my sister in laws house
in Bangkok, I remember having a shower and the water was leaving a
burning sensation on my lips as it flowed across them. Later on I was
discussing this with my brothers in law and one, who worked for the
Bangkok Water Authority, told me that I didn't want to know what was
needed to be put into the water to purify it.. ;-) Even they didn't
drink that water!

--

Xeno.