Western Australian’s are being urged to take precautions against mosquitoes when travelling to Bali following a sharp outbreak of Dengue fever among travellers returning from the popular holiday island. Acting Director of Communicable Disease Control Dr Gary Dowse said 54 WA travellers contracted the disease last year, three to four times the usual number. The trend has continued in 2008 with a further 16 cases reported in January. Almost 60 per cent of cases reported between January 2007 and February 2008 were associated with travel to Indonesia, with 76 per cent of these being infected in Bali. Smaller numbers of cases were reported among people who travelled to Thailand, Singapore, India, Vietnam, the Phillipines and other South East Asian countries. Dengue fever is an acute mosquito-borne viral infection that can occur 3-14 days after being bitten.
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Kampong Jamu, or the village of medicinal herbs, is the name people refer to when they are talking about the village of Kiringan, in Bantul, Yogyakarta. For the past century or so, Kiringan residents have been making a living from the manufacture and sale of jamu gendong — medicinal herbs that are carried in a basket on a woman’s shoulder using a sling and sold from door to door. Today, 102 of the 200 households in the village depend on the medicinal herb industry for their livelihoods. What makes Kiringan medicinal herbs characteristically different is the fact they are produced using a traditional method. The ingredients used to make the herbal remedies include extracts of Javanese plants with health-improving properties.
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Give me an iced tea any day!. I am not a drinker of alcohol and thus find a lot of enjoyment in sipping an iced tea after a trek or when just relaxing with friends. At home I would probably consume fifteen mugs of tea per day and always black tea.
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Ground water quality has severely worsened in several of Bali’s most popular tourism areas, including Nusa Dua. Poor ground water quality and contamination has been blamed on the area’s ever-increasing production of waste and garbage. The ground water and wells in Nusa Dua, Tanjung Benoa and Legian areas are so heavily contaminated that the water is unfit for human consumption according to I Ketut Sundra, a lecturer at Indonesia’s Udayana State University’s biology department.
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Being prepared for your journey in regard to your health should be one of your major priorities. Mishaps do occur and there are a lot of bugs that bite and diseases in tropical Indonesia and its best to be mindful of this. It’s a fact that somewhere in the archipelago of Indonesia can be found just about every disease known on the planet. Having said that, your chances of contracting one of these depends on where you go and how well you are vaccinated.
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If I had a dollar for every time someone said to me “I don’t need a First Aid Kit, I’m on holiday. Besides, I’ve got some band-aids in my bag”. Whether it be your first or one-hundredth trip to Indonesia, it is really imperative to carry some kind of first Aid Kit, and, know how to use what is in them. Some people might scoff at this suggestion, but, having a first aid kit with me on all of my journeys has helped me out in many situations. You don’t have to go out and buy the most expensive one on the market. Indeed, you could make your own. Most outdoor stores sell the basic package and then you can fill it with what you think you will need. Red Cross sell an excellent array of first aid kits to suit most activities. Personally, I use the Red Cross Backpack First Aid Kit as I find it convenient to carry as well as being light, and, it stores quite nicely in my backpack.
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A mosquito-borne disease known as kaki gajah or elephant foot is ballooning out of control in Riau, according to health officials. The spacious peatland, rain forests and palm oil plantations in the province are safe havens for mosquitoes which transmit the tropical foot abscess disease filariasis, in addition to dengue and malaria. According to a recent survey, of eleven regencies, only Kampar and Rokan Hulu remain free of filariasis.
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Most travellers are aware of the importance of health when touring around. It is also important that you obtain a Hepatitis A & B vaccination even before you travel to your destination. Even though it is not a sure-fire prevention against diseases contracted by food handled with dirty hands, unsanitary conditions and unboiled water, it will help you to a certain degree. There is nothing worse than copping a case of the ‘belly’ when you are on your holidays.
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A few years back on a visit to the island of Bali I had this misfortune of breaking a bone in my foot at Gunung Batur. Subsequently I ended up walking around, albeit with the aid of crutches, with 10 pound of plaster on my leg. It wasn’t until then did I actually realise just how hard it was to get around Indonesia being disabled in such a manner. I managed of course with the aid of my wife, Candika, catching mostly cabs and hobbling short distances. What really annoyed me was watching everybody swimming in the pool on a hot day at the homestay whilst I twiddled my thumbs!.
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Well and truly gone are the days when you could have sex without using a condom. Even back then, there were other STD’s that could be contracted. So, it is only sensible wherever you travel in Indonesia and want to take your pecker for a walk in the forest that you use protection – not only for your safety but also for your sexual partner. AIDS is rife in the world, and, in Indonesia the amount of people contracting HIV/AIDS is on the increase.
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