How can you be safe from STDs during travelling?

Travelling and STDs:

Travelling to and from our native place is part and parcel of our life. For various purposes, some of us need to travel a lot while for others it is an occasional job. Some people are travelling for a living, while others are just to enjoy life. Whatever the purpose of travelling, a quite common mishap takes place in many of the travellers and that is contracting an STD (sexually transmitted disease). 

image source

Who is prone to have STDs?

During the chamber practice, we (doctors) get a good number of travellers, who, after returning back from abroad, rush to a hospital to test if he has any one or combination of STDs. Almost 100% of such patients are men! Among the STDs, the most commonly encountered are three; Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C and HIV. Here are a few advises for the travellers to save themselves from contracting an STD. To be noted, someone can get this virus in ways other than sexual activities. 

How to be safe from STDs?

Keep your sexual urges under control. If the duration of travel is longer, (if possible) take your wife with you. And enjoy conjugal life as well.

If the above approach is not feasible, at least don’t do sex with the professional sex workers, local girls/boys. Always use barrier methods while having sex.

Do not involve in or perform the actions where there is a chance of sharing needles, such as tattooing, or ear piercing, or taking drugs. If you want a tattoo or ear piercing anyway, ensure that strict hygiene is maintained and a one-time needle is used.

Try to grab your own, safe and sterilized medical kit box with you during the travel period. Especially if you are travelling to a high-risk area. This may come handy and save you from going to a clinic or doctors from where you can get the disease via needles.

(If possible) Try to avoid taking a blood transfusion. If inevitable, take properly screened and cross-matched blood.

Complete your hepatitis B vaccination before travelling. As there is no vaccine for AIDS and Hepatitis C, nothing to do regarding taking a vaccine for the last two conditions.

Take the post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) as soon as possible following unprotected sex or having accidental needle prick injury. For HIV, you should take the medicine preferably within 6-8 hours. If not possible, then certainly within 72 hours. After a period of 72 of exposure, no benefit of PEP. In the case of hepatitis B, if you are not vaccinated, you need to take hepatitis B immunoglobulin (HBIg) vaccine within 48 hours (preferably) or within a week (must). You should take the regular vaccine as well. For hepatitis C, there is no PEP.