Travelvax

GLOBAL HEALTH EMERGENCY AND MONKEYPOX

Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the WHO, has declared that the increase in mpox cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and several other African countries is a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) according to the International Health Regulations (2005) (IHR).

Read more: https://www.travelvax.com.au/latest-news/global-health-emergency-and-monkeypox

Ask the Doc: Travel Medicine with Dr Eddy Bajrovic Medical Director Travelvax Australia

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Ask the Doc: Travel Medicine with Dr Eddy Bajrovic - 6PR Afternoons with Julie-anne Sprague This week for 6PR Afternoons' Ask the Doc segment, a Perth travel medicine doctor joined the program to give some tips if you're travelling and considering you're health. Dr Eddy Bajrovic, Medical Director for TravelVax Australia to look at the most common medical emergencies, how to know if you're....

Important considerations for diet and travel
Melissa Adamski APD MND BSc
Accredited Practising Dietitian and nutritionist
Nutted Out Nutrition www.nuttedoutnutrition.com.au

It is well known what we eat plays an important role in health and wellbeing, however when travelling little consideration is usually paid to diet and nutrition. While heading away on an occasional holiday and eating delicious foods is part of the fun and enjoyment, there are many instances where dietary advice while travelling is essential for many people. Providing relevant and realistic advice requires application of specialist food and nutrition travel lens to ensure information is useful and practical. There are a range of areas relating to diet and nutrition where specialist advice can be useful when travelling.

Read more: https://www.travelvax.com.au/latest-news/important-considerations-diet-and-travel

Image: Credit Aureliy

A timely reminder from the NSW Health Department as we head into warm weather and peak mosquito season on the need to protect ourselves from insect bites and how to do it effectively!

Read more:
https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/keepmozziesaway?fbclid=IwAR0IbM5L9b2De8tT15xHOdSkiUc7O86QDnqeLXnZC33gGPmHUbVV_JWDEQQ

Mosquito borne diseases - Mosquito borne diseases Mosquitoes aren’t just a nuisance – some also carry diseases that can make you really sick. The risk of mosquito-borne diseases is increasing in NSW due to the warm, wet weather forecast. This summer it’s important to take extra steps to protect yourself and your family by keeping mosquitoes a...

Monkeypox outbreaks – ‘a highly unusual event’
There has been so much in the news about monkeypox – perhaps because we’ve seemingly had nothing but COVID-19 information for the past two-plus years - so Travelvax has put together a few salient points about the illness, its transmission and the situation as it is at the moment… Read more
https://www.travelvax.com.au/latest-news/monkeypox-outbreaks-highly-unusual-event
Image: ©Andrew Angelov dreamstime.com

Mosquito bite precautions for residents and visitors to southern NSW and northern Victoria

NSW and Victorian health departments have issued alerts after a number of pigs in piggeries located in southern NSW and near Echuca, just over the border into Victoria, were found to be infected with the Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV). As the virus is transmitted by mosquitoes that have fed on a JEV- infected host (generally wading birds and pigs), this indicates that the virus is circulating in local mosquito populations and adds the potential for JEV transmission to humans (via the bites of one of these virus-carrying mosquitoes). Humans are considered dead-end virus hosts as mosquitoes are unlikely to become infected through feeding on the low levels of virus circulating during an infection (unlike pigs which are known as virus amplifiers).
Read more https://www.travelvax.com.au/latest-news/mosquito-bite-precautions-residents-and-visitors-southern-nsw-and-northern-victoria
Culex mosquito image: ©Konstantin Nechaev dreamstime.com

https://www.smartraveller.gov.au/news-and-updates/travel-advice-levels-are-changing

Travel advice levels are changing From 1 November, Australia’s international borders will progressively reopen, with fully vaccinated Australians able to depart Australia without applying for an exemption. In line with this reopening, we’ve removed our global ‘Do not travel’ advisory.

A focus on gastro & food poisoning
The inflammation of the stomach and intestines, known as gastroenteritis, is typically caused by a virus, bacterium or a parasite and what we know as food poisoning is a common cause of gastroenteritis when the ingested bacteria, viruses or their toxins – known as pathogens - have contaminated food in high enough numbers to establish an infective dose. Our strict national food safety standards encompass food handling, health and hygiene requirements for food handlers, conditions for food businesses and cleaning, sanitising and maintenance. Even so, it has been estimated that more than 4 million Australians suffer from a bout of food poisoning every year. Read more at https://www.travelvax.com.au/latest-news/focus-gastroenteritis
Image: ©Teodor Lazarev dreamstime.com

Insect repellents – The facts
It takes just one imperceptible bite for the transmission of what could be a life-threatening disease, which makes us ask: ‘How can such a tiny, fragile insect cause so much pain, suffering and annoyance?’ (Webb 2016)
So, to protect ourselves from potentially dangerous pests such as mosquitoes and ticks, we can dress the part – wear long-sleeves and full length trousers, closed in shoes and, while you are at it, avoid the use of perfumes and scents. It also helps to know when and where these menaces might be found – daytime, night-time, indoors, rural settings etc. Fortunately though, aside from these useful measures, we also have the tried and tested protection which is offered by effective insect repellents. https://www.travelvax.com.au/latest-news/insect-repellents-facts
Image: ©Monikabaumbach dreamstime.com

The World Health Organization (WHO) shares with us how vaccines work as COVID-19 vaccines are being developed: 🔬 https://bit.ly/3gM8PdP

How do vaccines work? This article is part one in a series of explainers on vaccine development and distribution. This article focuses on how vaccines work to protect our bodies from disease-carrying germs. Part two focused on the ingredients in a vaccine and the three clinical trial phases. Part three outlines the ...

COVID Vaccine update
There are currently numerous COVID-19 vaccines under development, with 11 vaccines presently in large-scale Phase 3 clinical trials. Developments for several of the vaccine candidates are moving quickly, with emergency use authorisation under consideration in some countries and distribution pending or already underway following the release of data from late-stage studies in others.

Read more: https://www.travelvax.com.au/covid-19-vaccine-vaccination

TRAVEL IN AUSTRALIA SERIES
With many of us unable to take our holidays overseas and instead choosing to travel around our own great country, we've put together lots of useful advice that may just come in handy...
Read more at https://www.travelvax.com.au/holiday-traveller/travel-in-australia

COVID-19: Considerations for travel: With high hopes of a relaxation of border closures sometime soon or perhaps having a desire to visit our own ‘backyards’, we have summarised some COVID-19 related travel advice for those who are already planning their visits
(The information provided is general in nature and cannot take into account all local conditions.)
Read more: https://www.travelvax.com.au/holiday-traveller/travel-in-australia/covid-19-considerations-travel

An interesting and very topical article about the workings of our immune system. https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2020/08/covid-19-immunity-is-the-pandemics-central-mystery/614956/

Immunology Is Where Intuition Goes to Die Which is too bad because we really need to understand how the immune system reacts to the coronavirus.

Australian Covid-19 Phase 1 vaccine shows promise Read more: https://amp-abc-net-au.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/amp.abc.net.au/article/12514988

Australian COVID-19 vaccine candidate shows positive results in phase one human trials Victorian aged care residents could be included in the next stage of testing for a potential COVID-19 vaccine that has shown positive results during phase one human trials in Adelaide.

Tracking the development of the around 155 vaccines 💉 in development for COVID-19. Read more : https://www-nytimes-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/science/coronavirus-vaccine-tracker.amp.html

Coronavirus Vaccine Tracker A look at all the vaccines that have reached trials in humans.

Worldwide the number of coronavirus cases have soared to over 8million. Read more: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-06-16/global-coronavirus-cases-more-than-8-million-as-outbreak-expands/12359162

Global coronavirus cases pass 8 million as outbreak expands in Latin America The worldwide number of cases doubles in just five weeks on the back of a fast-growing outbreak of infections in Latin America.

Covid-19 vaccine testing begins in Australia. The vaccine being tested is from the US biotech company, Novavax and is called NVX-CoV2373.

Read more: https://theconversation.com/the-vaccine-were-testing-in-australia-is-based-on-a-flu-shot-heres-how-it-could-work-against-coronavirus-139380

The vaccine we're testing in Australia is based on a flu shot. Here's how it could work against coronavirus A potential vaccine for coronavirus is undergoing a human trial in Australia. It's based on a vaccine that was already in development for influenza, and has shown promise in animal studies.

Flu in the time of a pandemic
It’s already been shown that the important steps introduced by the government to prevent the spread of COVID-19 have helped to reduce the transmission of influenza this year. Strict public health etiquette, plus getting the flu vaccination, will reduce your chances of picking up or passing on the flu, as well as many other viruses and bacteria. Read more: https://www.travelvax.com.au/latest-news/flu-time-pandemic
Image: ©Maninder Bahl Dreamstime.com

BABY BOOMERS: ENSURE YOU’RE PROTECTED AGAINST BACTERIAL PNEUMONIA

This year in particular the focus of Lung Foundation Australia’s Pneumonia Awareness Week (May 13–20) is very much on members of the community who are the most vulnerable, numbering among them those impacted by lung disease and lung cancer, but also people aged 65 years and older. Each year, more than 78,000 Australians are hospitalised with pneumonia and the average length of stay in acute care increases with age – from 6 days for those under 65 to 13 days for those 65+.
Read more: https://www.travelvax.com.au/latest-news/baby-boomers-ensure-youre-protected-against-bacterial-pneumonia
Attribution: Image: © Motortion Dreamstime.com

Siouxsie Wiles: What we know about children and Covid-19
https://thespinoff.co.nz/society/23-04-2020/siouxsie-wiles-what-we-know-about-children-and-covid-19/

Siouxsie Wiles: What we know about children and Covid-19 A lot of people are very reasonably concerned about the implications of schools and early childhood education reopening. Siouxsie Wiles explains what the latest studies can tell us about the risks. When Aotearoa New Zealand heads to alert level three, schools and early child education centres wil

The COVIDSafe app speeds up contacting people exposed to coronavirus (COVID-19). Read more: https://www.health.gov.au/resources/apps-and-tools/covidsafe-app

How does Covid-19 affect children and adolescents. Read more:
https://reliefweb.int/report/world/how-does-covid-19-affect-children-child-psychologist-weighs

How does COVID-19 affect children? A child psychologist weighs in. - World English News and Press Release on World about Health, Children and Epidemic; published on 30 Mar 2020 by SOS

How long does Coronavirus survive on different surfaces?
Interesting story on ABC News citing a study in the New England Journal of medicine.
Read more: https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2020-03-20/how-long-does-coronavirus-last-on-surfaces/12074330

How long coronavirus lasts on surfaces Coronavirus can't reproduce outside a living host, but the virus can still survive on surfaces for hours and in some cases even days, new research reveals.

Covid-19 what we know so far about SARS - CoV - 2

Read more: https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2020/03/biography-new-coronavirus/608338/?utm_source=Global+Health+NOW+Main+List&utm_campaign=f9b9ae5a4c-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2020_03_20_12_47&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_8d0d062dbd-f9b9ae5a4c-2957897

Why the Coronavirus Has Been So Successful We’ve known about SARS-CoV-2 for only three months, but scientists can make some educated guesses about where it came from and why it’s behaving in such an extreme way.

The Department of Foreign Affairs is recommending Australian travellers return home, as more countries close borders. Read more: https://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2020-03-17/coronavirus-all-australians-should-return-home-from-overseas/12065050?pfmredir=sm

DFAT says Australian travellers who want to return home should do so ASAP The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade issues advice recommending Australians abroad who wish to return home do so as soon as possible via commercial flights.

The similarities and difference between flu and Covid -19. Read more: https://edition.cnn.com/2020/03/14/health/coronavirus-covid-19-flu-comparison-frieden-analysis/index.html

Former CDC director: Covid-19 is different from flu and we must respond differently There are similarities and differences between Covid-19 and the flu, but we know much less about the novel coronavirus. As we look at what happened in China, and what's happening now in Italy, it's easy to adopt a fatalistic attitude that "there's nothing we can do, we're all going to get it anyway....

The Australian government has suggested to avoid all non-essential travel overseas. Read more: https://www.smartraveller.gov.au/news-and-updates/coronavirus-covid-19

Coronavirus (COVID-19) | Smartraveller The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared COVID-19 a pandemic. We now advise all Australians to reconsider your need for overseas travel at this time. Read more on our website.

COVID-19: What we do know
Every morning we wake to new information, data and articles on the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV2 and the illness it causes, COVID-19. This makes it difficult to keep track of what we do now know – and there is still plenty that we don’t unfortunately – and how it could impact us.
https://www.travelvax.com.au/latest-news/covid-19-what-we-do-know
Image from Aust. Dept. of Health Coronavirus (COVID-19) – what you need to know

Ways to protect yourself against coronavirus “SARS-CoV-2”. Read more: https://www.abc.net.au/news/health/2020-02-17/coronavirus-face-masks-hygiene-prevention/11958878?sf230238314=1

Forget the mask. Here's how to protect yourself from coronavirus The risk of catching coronavirus in Australia is low. But there are simple ways to reduce your risk — and in doing so, improve your odds of staving off the flu and common cold.