4 Essential Tips To Stay Healthy On Your Visit To Jamaica

By Sounds and Colours 27 July, 2021

A vacation in Jamaica is no short of a vacation in paradise. However, it is important to ensure that you do not land up in health hazards and ruin your stay in this tropical paradise.

It is natural to have a bunch of queries before you travel. The most obvious is if you need any special vaccination apart from your COVID-19 vaccine. Moreover, going by current trends, medical marijuana patients are increasing by the day. So, if you have your own MMJ card, you might want to know if you can carry your card for medical marijuana related needs there. Regulations for medicinal weed are expected to be different in the Caribbean, and knowing about them beforehand can save you from ruining a peaceful holiday with legal complications.

In this post, let us find out all that you need to know to prevent falling ill on your Caribbean holiday.

1. Vaccinations

Let’s start with the vaccinations. You must consult with your physician regarding what vaccinations you need to clear, or if you need routine booster shots of any particular kind before you travel. Generally speaking, you must be inoculated against Hepatitis A and typhoid, since these are common outbreaks and can be quite upsetting. Besides, if you are visiting from a nation where yellow fever is prevalent, you will mandatorily need the necessary vaccines along with the proof of vaccination, before you are allowed to enter Jamaica.

2. Water and food-borne ailments in Jamaica

You need to be extremely wary of personal and hygiene practices, to avoid falling sick on your vacation. Food and water-borne diseases are common and can only be prevented by adopting cleanliness and hygiene. Some of the most common ailments include –

Fish toxins – Avoid eating sea fishes like sea bass, snapper, barracuda, groupers, and jack. These contain the toxin Ciguatera that causes dangerous food poisoning prevalent across Jamaica and the Caribbean.

Hepatitis A – You must be vaccinated against Hepatitis A which spreads through unclean utensils, cups, and contaminated water.

Typhoid – This is another very dreadful water-borne ailment that you must be protected against. If you plan to mostly stay away from major cities and towns in Jamaica, it will be safer to get your typhoid jab.

Traveler’s diarrhea – Traveler’s diarrhea can be kept at bay by religiously following food and personal hygiene restrictions. You must strictly avoid eating already peeled fruits and veggies, stale or open food items, raw foods, iced drinks, and make sure to boil water before drinking or stick to bottled mineral water.

Swimming at beaches – It is better to exercise caution before diving in since local beaches are often sources of fecal contamination.

3. Diseases caused by insects

Jamaica is known for outbreaks of mosquito-borne ailments like dengue fever, Zika virus, malaria, and chikungunya. There are no available vaccinations for these but do carry mosquito repellants for safety and wear covered clothing.

4. AIDS/HIV

Do not engage in sexual activities with locals and stay away from getting tattooed there. Jamaica has got one of the highest rates of HIV/AIDS infections in the entire Caribbean, and these are the easiest modes of spreading the infection to others.

Conclusion

Before traveling, make sure to carry the necessary medication along with your doctor’s prescription. In case of emergencies, you can always visit medical centers in Jamaica’s major cities.

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