Missionaries Should Plan Ahead Before Traveling Abroad

Every summer, thousands of missionaries, inspired by their faith and desire to serve, travel to remote international communities to help others. But while helping others, these missionaries risk exposing themselves to infectious diseases and must plan ahead to prevent serious illness.

Missionary work is different from traditional tourist travel because it involves living and working closely with the local population in rural areas where infectious diseases are more common. Africa, Southeast Asia and Central America are common missionary destinations and also potential hot spots for infectious diseases.

Many activities of a missionary, such as establishing a clean water supply, administering vaccines and cooking with native foods, further increase the chances of getting sick.

`The most important thing missionaries should remember is to plan ahead because many travel-related illnesses can be prevented with the proper education and immunization," said Dr. Danny Chong, a physician with the Methodist Health Care System Institute for Preventive Medicine's Travel Medicine Department.

"Unless abdominal cramps, nausea and a high fever are in your itinerary, you shouldn't just pack and go," he said.

Start by checking your health records to ensure that your measles, mumps, rubella, polio, diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis immunizations are up-to-date, Dr. Cheng said. The immunization requirements and recommendations vary by destination, so it's important to visit a travel medicine expert before traveling internationally.

Pretravel planning should begin about six weeks before departure in order to have adequate time for immunizations to take effect. Some vaccines such as the one for hepatitis B are given in a series over a short period of time. Specific vaccinations are mandatory for entry into certain countries.

Missionaries traveling to countries in Central America or Africa, for example, may be required to get a yellow fever vaccination before entering.

Other recommended vaccinations for missionaries include those for typhoid and hepatitis A, as well as oral medications for malaria. In addition to the right vaccinations, missionaries should take the right steps to stay healthy while living abroad.

The most common illness for missionaries is traveler's diarrhea caused by contaminated food or water. Dr. Chong suggests taking these precautions:

• Peel your own fruit,
  
  
• Drink purified water; also use it for brushing teeth,
  
  
• Eat thoroughly cooked foods,
  
  
• Avoid salads with raw vegetables, and
  
  
• Avoid shellfish

General precautions against insects such as mosquitoes should be followed as well. These include using insect repellent, wearing protective clothing and using mosquito nets.

Missionaries must remember that some diseases thought to be under control in the United States may be present or of epidemic proportions in other countries. Protecting your health should be the most important aspect of any missionary trip, he said.

The IPM's travel health department can provide all the necessary education and immunizations at a discount for missionary groups of 10 or more. The IPM has locations throughout the Houston area. For more information, call (713) 394-6078 or visit http://www.methodisthealth.com/travel.

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©2006 Texas Medical Center

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