The news is just starting to seep in about a few planeloads returning from Cuba, Holguin to be more specific, full of sunburned Canadians with vomiting and diarrhea. While this story would always be of interest to me, it is even more exciting as I take off for Cuba with my son, Michael, of The Midway State, on Thursday.
It is not yet clear what the cause of this sudden surge in Traveller’s Diarrhea is from, though it might be clearer after some local or Canadian investigation and dozens of stool samples. But there are many possibilities …
Perhaps this group of Canucks was even more careless about the usual “Boil it, bottle it, peel it, cook it … or forget it” precautions that we generally recommend. Tourists at all-inclusive resorts tend to ignore the advice because they have already paid for their food and beverages, the resort has 5 stars, or because they don’t see anyone else getting sick (they are all in the bathroom!).
Maybe the resorts in question had a particularly contaminated shipment of fruit, vegetables, juice or ice.
Perhaps a local Cuban with poor hygiene was doing the cooking at all of the implicated resorts.
Maybe the airline was serving infectious mohitos at the airport.
In any case, it might take some time before we know the actual cause of today’s headlines.
So what can tourists do to prevent standing inline at the can on their return flight? Firstly, stick to the above mentioned precautions. Dukoral, the oral vaccine against E. coli provides moderate (30-40%) protection against Traveller’s Diarrhea. We do not know whether this current “outbreak” is due to E. coli. or another infectious agent. Carrying some loperamide (Imodium) and an antibiotic such as Cipro or Zithromax might also come in handy for self-treatment, as the majority of cases of Traveller’s Diarrhea are cause by susceptible bacteria.
Diarrhea can certainly ruin a holiday or a flight home from the tropics. While generally just uncomfortable and an inconvenience, the young, the elderly and those with underlying medical problems might be more prone to develop serious disease and even death.
Should Canadians stop going to Cuba? Absolutely not! This will be my third visit, and in spite of the current news, I still intend to have a mohito exactly where Hemingway had his!
