Jaunted - Tag: Travel Health

The Top Ten Gross Things People Do On Airplanes

JetSetCD — 2009-11-23T09:48:52-05:00

We all know about the rare instances of airline passenger misconduct that make it to the headlines, like the case of the naked, angry flyer or the fighting Lohan, but every day little instances of pure gross occur unnoticed or just unreported.

Perhaps you've spotted someone getting a little too frisky beneath their $5 on-board purchase blanket or going about some hygienic business, but chances are you haven't seen all Top Ten Gross Things People Do On Airplanes:

10. Browse dating websites over the in-flight WiFi
We know that having in-flight WiFi is new and great and magical, but it's best to keep your private profile and your preferences for "18/F/Asian" private. Even if it's something as innocuous as passing the time on HotorNot.com, just remember that you're not the only one who can see your computer screen, and we bet everyone else that can is secretly laughing at you.

Medical Tourism Booms In Ghana, Of All Places

amandak — 2009-11-03T08:59:21-05:00

The west African country of Ghana hasn't been too high up on our list of wanna-visits, although its position improved a lot when we heard Ghana is the second highest producer of cocoa - maybe that chocolate bar we just downed came out of Ghana. Anyway, Ghana is actually going for a different target now: the health tourist.

It turns out that quite a lot of Ghanaians get medical degrees overseas, and one way of enticing them back to Ghana has been to open a bunch of top-class medical clinics. Sadly, of course, the average Ghanaian citizen can't afford to visit such a clinic—but a tourist can, and for a normal tourist, the prices are bargain basement while the care is excellent.

Cosmetic surgery is high on the list of tourist-wants, although simpler treatments like massages and detox are popular too. So far, the foreign visitors seem to be mostly the wealthy from other African countries, but when celebrities start getting boob-jobs in Ghana, you can say that you read it here first.

Related Stories:
· Ghana Targets Health Tourism Boom [BBC]
· Ghana Travel Guide [Jaunted]

[Photo: bagaball]

Have You Encountered Swine Flu In Your Travels This Year?

JetSetCD — 2009-11-02T13:04:21-05:00

'Tis the year of the Swine Flu and things just haven't died down like we'd hoped they would. Now that the intense and occasionally fatal flu has affected everyone from D-List celebs to former All-You-Can-Jetters, it's apparent that it's not going anywhere anytime soon—or rather, it's going everywhere.

So we want to know: what's been your experience with Swine Flu this year? Have you taken to wearing face masks on flights and in subways or do you scrunch up your nose at those who do? Have you gotten and survived Swine Flu? Has anyone you know been under the weather with it, and if so, where do you think they go it? We're just wondering exactly how prevalent it is in places of travel, versus say at restaurants and in your local bowling alley. Or has your bowling alley had its balls sanitized? Hmm??

Let us know your travel Swine Flu experience in the comments!

[Photo: OhLaLa Mag]

'With Liberty And Travel For All'; Obama Lifts HIV Travel Ban

JetSetCD — 2009-11-02T10:34:20-05:00

Although the travel health focus right now is on the Swine Flu, it's nonetheless important to remember that Swine Flu isn't the end-all, be-all of dangerous diseases right now. After all, millions of people in the world don't have it, unlike HIV and AIDS. Up until this weekend, those with HIV were banned from traveling to the United States due to an archaic law which was just lifted by Obama in response to a UNAIDS request for all countries to end such discriminatory travel bans: "Placing travel restrictions on people living with HIV has no public health justification. It is also a violation of human rights," said UNAIDS executive director Michel Sidibe.

Although the ban won't be fully lifted until next year, those who have HIV and haven't been able to visit the US and make their dreams come true of going to Graceland and eating a slice of New York pizza now can start booking their flights.

What Type Of Traveler Packs A Hand-Held UV Germ Scanner?

Omri — 2009-10-21T17:03:41-05:00

If you love getting out of the house but hate the "other people exist" part of traveling, there are a number of things you can do. Our recommendation is an mp3 player and a really good set of noise-canceling headphones. Failing that, books and earplugs work pretty well on airplanes. But there are certain parts of the world where interacting with other people's germs is unavoidable. Getting rid of all of them is impossible, you know.

But that isn't stopping travel companies from marketing hand-held UV lights, like the $79 Nano-UV Scanner, to germphobic travelers. There's a well-defined and well-justified use for UV bulbs in disinfecting water when you're camping—though there are easier ways and you better know what you're doing—but campers aren't the ones being targeted here:

New Malaysian Malaria: Monkeys and Mosquitoes To Blame

amandak — 2009-10-15T08:48:38-05:00

Travelers to Southeast Asia beware: there's a new strain of malaria in town. Researchers have recently figured out that the Plasmodium knowlesi strain of malaria, which used to be confined to Malaysian macaque monkeys, can kill humans too.

The especially nasty part about this new human strain of malaria is that doctors have a hard time recognizing it. Symptoms and disease progression look scarily similar to other less serious forms of malaria, so you might end up dead before the doctors realize they should've done something differently.

Vegetarian's Life Ruined By Eating Eggshell On Indian Airlines Flight

Omri — 2009-10-13T17:43:37-05:00

Keshav Kaushik, a lacto-vegetarian who abstains from meat and eggs, boarded an Indian Airlines flight in February of 2003. He informed the air-hostess about his dietary preferences and she indicated understanding. Despite this, a cake that Kaushik was served had a piece of egg shell. Hilarity failed to ensue and the case has been making its way through the Indian court system ever since:

The passenger became nauseous and also fell unconscious. The flying staff and other fellow passenger rendered necessary help and after disembarking at Delhi airport he lodged a complaint with the consumer court. Kaushik further alleged in his complaint that 35 days after the incident he suffered haemorrhage in the abdomen and had to be hospitalized to undergo surgery.