Professional News and Articles

Plan ahead for healthy travel

February 9, 2010

If dreary winter days have you planning your next get-away, make packing a priority – not a last-minute sprint. Taking time to assemble a healthy travel kit will keep you and traveling companions going strong both during and after your trip.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) offers simple tips to help travelers.  You can help in the fight to control the flu’s spread by remembering to “Stop, Wash and Go:"

• Stop. Make sure you feel well before traveling. If you have the flu or have flu-like symptoms, delay your travel plans until your fever has been gone for at least 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medicines.
• Wash. Help prevent the spread of the flu by covering your coughs and sneezes with a tissue or your upper sleeve and wash your hands often with soap and water.
• Go. If you are healthy and taking the appropriate precautions, go – and have a great time.

Before leaving home, talk with your doctor about how to stay healthy while traveling and whether you should get vaccinated against seasonal flu and 2009 H1N1 flu if you haven’t already received them. Contact your health insurance provider to learn the extent of your medical coverage outside the United States and consider getting travel insurance if your plan doesn’t cover international travel. Do some research before you go on flu prevention and health recommendations for travel.

Travelers should pack the right equipment, including a travel health kit to help keep important medications with you on your trip. Flu prevention can be travel-sized. Your kit can include alcohol-based hand sanitizer, tissues, and pain and fever medicines.

Click here to find additional CDC recommendations for your travel health kit at.