How to avoid illness while traveling

A hectic travel schedule can easily wear down even the most fit business traveler’s immune system. Not to mention the fact that flu season is in full swing right now in Northern latitudes. Hence, a recent Wall Street Journal interview with Dr. Phyllis Kozarsky, a travel-health expert for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and a professor of medicine at Emory University, is well worth reading. Some of the tips or advice she mentioned during the interview included:

• It's never too late be be vaccinated for something like Hepatitis A.
• Have a good idea of what your travel schedule will be like for the next six months to a year and get vaccinated and buy medicines accordingly.
• If possible, go in a day early to get used to the time zone and spend as much time as you can outdoors to adjust your biological clock.
• Make a little travel health kit with everything that you might need in the event of a minor illness.
• Be sure to have loperamide (Imodium) and an antibiotic – especially if you are traveling to a developing country.
• Wash your hands more than you usually do and carry an alcohol-based sanitizer or hand gel.

Keeping the above tips in mind will keep you healthy both before and during your next hectic business trip.