Health Services

Travel Clinic

Services Are Available To Students and Faculty/Staff Of Winthrop University Only.

Students planning to travel or study abroad, e-mail the Travel Clinic Nurse at reedyf@winthrop.edu to schedule an appointment. Prior to your appointment, you will need to complete the Travel Clinic Questionnaire, located in the Patient Portal. Once you are in the portal click the Forms tab and scroll down to Travel Clinic.

Faculty/Staff planning to travel or study abroad, e-mail the Travel Clinic Nurse at reedyf@winthrop.edu to schedule an appointment and request travel packet. Prior to your appointment, you will need to complete the travel packet and return it to the Travel Clinic Nurse one week prior to your scheduled appointment. 

 

Winthrop Travel Clinic offers

• Advice on what to pack for medical and first-aid needs
• Education about travel health issues, including food, water and insect precautions
• Health information specific to your destination
• Information about disease risks
• Pre-travel assessment to determine your health care needs
• Prescriptions for preventive medications, including malaria pills
• Vaccines

Immunizations

• Be sure that you are up to date on all of your immunizations before you leave!  So of the basic immunizations you may need are:
•    MMR (measles, mumps and rubella)
•    Td or Tdap (tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis)
•    Hepatitis B
• Depending on your travel itinerary, these vaccines may be recommended:
  •    Hepatitis A
  •    Polio
  •    Typhoid
  •    Yellow Fever - may be required for certain itineraries
  •    Preventive medicine for malaria for some destinations

Safe Food and Water

• Food Precautions:  The general rule: boil it, cook it, peel it, or forget it.  Be sure to eat only fruits and vegetables that you can wash and peel yourself.  Make sure that all food is well-cooked and avoid food from street vendors that have been sitting out.
• Water precautions:  In developing countries, tap water may not be clean and drinkable as it is in the developed world.  Organisms in the water could make you sick, even if the local population is able to drink the water, so use bottled water even to brush your teeth.
• Be sure to drink only bottled, canned, or, carbonated beverages, and do not use ice cubes.
• Traveler's Diarrhea, aka Montezuma's Revenge, is generally caused by something you ate or drank and is particularly a problem for travelers to warm climates.

Insect Precautions

• Avoid perfumes and use unscented soaps, shampoos, and deodorants
• Bites or stings of some insects (mosquitoes, fleas, ticks, and bees) can cause poisoning, injury, or transmit diseases such as malaria, dengue fever, yellow fever, and Japanese encephalitis.  Learn what you can about the insects of the locale you are visiting.  Take precautions:
•    Dress in pale colors rather than bright colors
•    Take advantage of preventive medicines (such as for malaria) and vaccines if indicated.
•    Use insect repellents containing 30-35% DEET
•    Use permethrin insecticide on clothing and mosquito netting at night if recommended.
•    Wear shoes and socks

Hydration

• Drink plenty of fluids (water, juice, Gatorade, etc) to keep hydrated.  Avoid alcoholic beverages and caffeine drinks.
• To keep cool, wear light-colored clothing that is made of natural fabric such as cotton.  Also, wear sunglasses to protect your eyes and wear a hat to help keep your body cool.
• Use sunscreen with an SPF of 15 or higher.

 Prevention of Infectious Diseases

• Wash your hands! Wash your hands!
• Don't touch your eyes, nose, and mouth
• Avoid crowds and sick people.
• Immunize

Are these in your suitcase?

• Enough of your Rx medication in the original container
• Extra pair of glasses or contact lenses
• Anti-diarrhea medication  
• Tylenol, Advil, or aspirin  
• Sunscreen
• Anti-fungal foot powder or cream
• Antiseptic hand cleaner
• Band-Aids and first-aid ointment (such as Bacitracin)
• Bottled Water
• International immunization card with documentation of vaccines received
• Medication for malaria prevention
• Insect repellant containing 30-35% DEET
• Oral rehydration salt packets
• Thermometer
• Tweezers

For more traveling tips go to our medical links to check out the travel links.