Travelers’ Diarrhea: Prevention, Treatment and the Antibiotic Question
Travelers' diarrhea is a food- and water-borne gut infection, usually bacterial, that affects roughly 30 to 70 percent of people visiting high-risk regions. Most…
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Blog Category
Infections & Travel Health
Articles on infections and travel health: vaccines before a trip, food and water safety, fever after travel and how to tell when an infection needs medical treatment.
How a Lumbar Puncture Diagnoses Meningitis: What the Spinal Fluid Test Shows Doctors
A lumbar puncture diagnoses meningitis by drawing a small sample of cerebrospinal fluid from the lower back so a laboratory can check its appearance,…
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Cold, Flu or Sinus Infection? How Doctors Tell Them Apart and What Changes the Plan
A cold builds gradually with a runny nose and sore throat and usually eases within 7 to 10 days. Flu arrives suddenly with fever,…
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Motion Sickness: Why the Brain Gets Confused and What Prevents It
Motion sickness happens when the brain receives mismatched signals about movement from the inner ear, the eyes and the body, most often when you…
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Tick Bites: Safe Removal and the Signs of Infection to Watch For
Tick bites are best handled by removing the tick as soon as you find it: grasp it close to the skin with fine-tipped tweezers,…
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Salmonella Infection: When Doctors Order a Stool Test and How the Result Changes Treatment
Doctors usually order a salmonella stool test when diarrhea is severe, bloody, lasting more than a few days, accompanied by high fever, or occurring…
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Walking Pneumonia: The Mycoplasma Infection Behind the Lingering Cough
Walking pneumonia is a mild form of pneumonia most often caused by the bacterium Mycoplasma pneumoniae. It typically brings a dry, hacking cough that…
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After a Tick Bite: When Doctors Recommend an Evaluation and How Lyme Disease Care Begins
See a doctor after a tick bite if you cannot remove the tick fully, if it was likely attached for 36 hours or more,…
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Athlete’s Foot and Nail Fungus: Why They Return and What Actually Clears Them
Athlete's foot is a fungal skin infection of the feet that usually clears with an over-the-counter antifungal cream, spray or powder used for the…
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Does Dengue Need Hospital Care? When Fluids and Monitoring Move From the Clinic to a Ward
Most people with dengue recover at home with rest, oral fluids and daily check-ins, because there is no specific antiviral and care is supportive.…
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Long COVID Symptoms: The Patterns Doctors Now Recognize and the Tests That Help
Long COVID symptoms are health problems that persist or newly appear at least three months after a COVID-19 infection and last two months or…
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Pink Eye: Viral, Bacterial or Allergic: How to Tell and When It Is Contagious
Pink eye (conjunctivitis) is inflammation of the thin membrane covering the white of the eye. Viral cases cause watery discharge and often spread from…
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COVID-19 Treatment for Older Adults and People With Chronic Illness: Why Early Review Matters
For older adults and people with chronic conditions, COVID-19 treatment works best when it starts early. Antiviral medicines act on the virus during its…
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Lyme Disease Symptoms: The Rash, the Stages and Why Early Treatment Matters
Lyme disease symptoms usually begin 3 to 30 days after a blacklegged tick bite with an expanding red rash called erythema migrans, often alongside…
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Sinus Infection: Viral or Bacterial? How Doctors Decide and When Antibiotics Help
Most sinus infections start as viral colds and clear on their own within about ten days without antibiotics. Doctors suspect a bacterial sinus infection…
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Lyme Disease Follow-Up: Why Doctors Check Joints, Heart Rhythm and Nerves After Treatment
After treatment for Lyme disease, doctors follow up on joints, heart rhythm and nerves because these are the systems the infection can affect weeks…
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RSV Symptoms in Adults: How to Tell It From Flu and COVID, and Who Is at Risk
RSV symptoms in adults usually look like a heavy cold: runny nose, cough, sneezing, sore throat, mild fever and sometimes wheezing, building over several…
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Ringworm: The Fungal Infection That Is Not a Worm: Symptoms and Treatment
Ringworm is a common skin infection caused by fungi called dermatophytes, not by any worm. It usually appears as a red or pink, scaly,…
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