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Protecting your health while travelling is essential for a safe and enjoyable trip. Get useful information and resources below to help you stay well abroad, ensuring you are prepared to face common travel health risks and emergencies.
Before your trip
All travellers visiting any country need to be vigilant and are encouraged to make the following preparations, where relevant, before your trip:
Visit your doctor 4 to 6 weeks before your trip for a travel health risk assessment, including advice on required or recommended vaccinations1 and preventive medications (prophylaxis).
Keep up-to-date with vaccinations and boosters as recommended in the National Adult Immunisation Schedule (NAIS) or National Childhood Immunisation Schedule (NCIS). The vaccines you need depend on your age, medical conditions, and which vaccines or immunity you already have. If you do not have vaccine records, you may be able to test for vaccine or natural immunity through blood tests; please discuss with your doctor.
Check the health situation and entry requirements for your destination country. Some countries may require proof of vaccination for diseases such as yellow fever and meningococcal before you are allowed entry.
Singapore has a yellow fever vaccination requirement to re-enter Singapore if you have travelled from or transited in (including airport transit for more than 12 hours) a country with risk of yellow fever. All travellers, including Singapore citizens, who arrive in Singapore without a valid yellow fever vaccination certificate within 6 days of departure from a country with risk of yellow fever transmission can be quarantined at a designated government facility. This includes persons who were ineligible for vaccination due to medical conditions, or whose certificate is not yet valid.
Prepare a travel health kit with items which you may need to last your whole trip, with some extra in case of delays, such as medication you require (including prophylaxis prescribed by your doctor), a first aid kit, effective insect repellent (e.g. those containing DEET, Picaridin or IR3535 as the active ingredient), iodine tablets and portable water filters to purify water, and alcohol-based hand sanitiser (must contain at least 60% alcohol).
1 For Mpox Clade I, there is currently no vaccination recommendation for travellers to affected countries.
During your trip
Take prophylaxis as prescribed by your doctor.
Observe and practice good personal hygiene at all times.
Wash your hands regularly with soap, especially before handling food or eating, after going to the toilet, or when hands are dirty from coughing or sneezing. If water is not available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitiser that contains at least 60% alcohol.
Avoid close contact and sharing common items with persons who are unwell or have symptoms of infectious diseases.
Cover your mouth with a tissue when coughing or sneezing and dispose the soiled tissue into the bin immediately. Avoid touching your face, including eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands after coughing or sneezing.
Drink only bottled or boiled water (1 minute at full boil), or canned drinks. Avoid tap water and ice. Use iodine tablets and portable water filters to purify water if necessary.
Eat food that is fully cooked. Eat fruits which can be peeled (wash before peeling). Avoid eating raw or undercooked meat and seafood, salads, unpastuerised milk/milk products, food prepared in unhygienic conditions and food purchased from street vendors.
Protect yourself from insect bites by using effective insect repellent (e.g. those containing DEET, Picaridin or IR3535 as the active ingredient). Re-apply every 4 to 6 hours on exposed skin.
Avoid feeding or touching animals, especially stray or wild animals.
Avoid high-risk sexual activities such as having multiple sex partners or engaging in casual sex.
Treatment of travellers' diarrhoea
Infectious agents from food and water can cause diarrhoea, vomiting, or fever. Most cases of travellers’ diarrhoea will improve after 2 to 3 days without needing antibiotics. Severe diarrhoea includes more than 5 to 10 loose stools per day or bloody stools. Bring anti-diarrheal medicine with you so you can treat mild cases yourself. Anti-diarrheal medicines such as loperamide and diphenoxylate can be obtained from your healthcare provider.
Besides anti-diarrheal medicine, treatment consists of:
Replacing fluids and electrolytes (salts and sugars) that are lost by diarrhoea. Oral rehydration salts are available at most pharmacies – follow package instructions.
Antibiotics are not required for most cases of travellers’ diarrhoea. For severe diarrhoea, antibiotics are available by doctor’s prescription and may reduce the severity and duration of traveller’s diarrhoea by 2-3 days. Antibiotics such as ciprofloxacin 500mg twice daily for up to 3 days (or azithromycin 1,000mg as a single dose) may be effective for treating severe traveller’s diarrhoea.
If you have severe or prolonged diarrhoea (lasting more than 7 days), please seek medical attention. Stool tests may be required to check for viruses, bacteria or parasites.
Actions to take for animal bites and scratches
Animal bites and scratches may result in wound infections such as tetanus or transmit rabies. Rabies is almost 100% fatal. It is important to understand how to reduce your risk, and what to do if you do get bitten or scratched.
Avoid feeding or touching animals, especially stray dogs. Even animals that look healthy may have rabies or other diseases. Bats may transmit rabies via close contact alone.
Help children stay safe by supervising them when around animals and instructing them to report any animal bites/scratches immediately.
Inform your doctor of any animal bites or scratches that may lead to wound infections or rabies exposure.
If you have been bitten or scratched
Wash the wound immediately with soap and water for 15 minutes. Visit a doctor immediately for wound care, infection prevention and rabies post-exposure prevention. Rabies post-exposure prevention consists of a series of 4 to 5 rabies vaccines, given over 21 to 28 days. If you have never had a rabies vaccine before, you may also need rabies immunoglobulin (RIG). RIG must be administered as soon as possible (but no later than 7 days after starting rabies vaccines).
Malaria prevention
Malaria is a serious illness caused by the Plasmodium parasite which is transmitted by female Anopheles mosquitoes. Symptoms including fever, chills, and headache can be non-specific or mistaken for milder conditions but severe malaria can be fatal within a few days.
Malaria risk varies in different countries (and between areas within the same country). The risk of malaria is usually higher in rural areas. You may contact your healthcare provider to assess the risk of malaria in your intended travel destination and for malaria prevention measures if required.
You can check the risk of malaria for specific countries on websites such as the US CDC Yellow Book. If you develop fever (>38.0oC) during your visit in malarious areas, or within 12 months of such a visit, please inform your doctor of your travel history.
You can reduce your risk of catching malaria by using personal protective measures such as:
Using insect repellent (e.g. those containing DEET, Picaridin or IR3535 as the active ingredient) on exposed skin especially after dusk when there is peak mosquito biting activity;
Wearing long pants and long-sleeved clothing; and
Using insecticide-treated bednets or sleeping in a mosquito-free setting.
Anti-malaria medications can be used for prevention and although they are highly efficacious, they are not 100% effective. Travellers who develop malaria symptoms are advised to seek medical attention even if they are already taking medications for malaria prevention.
After your trip
Wear a mask and seek medical attention promptly if you become unwell or develop respiratory symptoms such as cough or runny nose.
Inform the doctor of your travel history and any exposure to sick contacts, healthcare facilities or animals.