One Kathmandu hospital is reporting up to 400 people per day presenting with dengue-like symptoms with calls by some doctors for a public health emergency to be declared. Fifty-six districts are now impacted ‘including mountainous districts like Manang’ (in the Annapurna Conservation Area), and several have recorded dengue associated deaths - Sindhupalchowk, Sunsari, Chitwan and Doti. Read more. In a follow-up on last week’s scrub typhus post in the western province of Sudurpaschim Pradesh, the Epidemiology and Disease Control Division notified 72 cases of the rickettsial infection in Kathmandu in the months from June to August and another 162 from the districts of Banke, Palpa, Dhading, Morang, Chitwan, Kaski, Rupandehi, Dadeldhura, Kailali, Ilam, Kavrepalanchowk and Makawanpur. Read more
Advice for travellers
Scrub typhus is a bacterial disease passed on to humans by mites that normally live on rodents infected with the disease. Most travel-acquired cases occur when travellers camp, hike, or go river rafting in rural areas in endemic countries. Scrub typhus occurs throughout the Asia-Pacific region, where more than a million cases occur annually. There is no vaccine or prevention medication: avoidance hinges on minimising insect bites. Due to the disease’s 5- to 14-day incubation period, travellers often experience symptoms (fever, headache, malaise, and sometimes nausea, vomiting and a rash) after their trip. Read more about rickettsial diseases.
Before you travel, call Travelvax Australia’s telephone advisory service on 1300 360 164 (toll-free from landlines) for country-specific advice and information. You can also make an appointment at your nearest Travelvax clinic to obtain vaccinations, medication to prevent or treat illness, and accessories for your journey.