Travel to home countries

An interesting study from Australia about visitors who return to a homeland they emigrated from: they may be more at risk or travel-related health problems than other visitors (non-returners) to those countries are.

In other words, according to this study, if you were born in Nigeria, for example, or Sudan, or India or Iraq and you immigrated to Canada or Australia or the US, and you return to your home country for a visit (say, to see your cousins in your home town or village), you have very likely lost any partial immunity you may have once had to particular health conditions in your home country (malaria, for example, or other infections), so you can't rely on that any longer to stay well, and you have to take the same precautions as anyone who has never visited that country also has to take, including getting all the relevant shots.

However, this study from Australia claims, most people visiting friends or relative overseas (what this study calls VFRs) do not bother getting those shots or taking appropriate precautions because they feel they are somewhat immune even when traveling to remote areas where conditions like typhoid and malaria and hepatitis are much more common.

Many people also return home suddenly - as for a funeral, for example - so even if they thought of it, they don't have the time to get the necessary shots or medications.

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Written by Dr. Art Hister Monday, 11 May 2009 00:00

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