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When leaving the comforts of your native land to see the exotic sights of distant locales, you may be exposed to more than interesting views. Especially when traveling to less developed areas, the risk of exposure to some germs that bring along nasty diseases increases. You may find the need to seek out vaccinations against some of the more ugly and sometimes deadly diseases that are out there. Knowing which vaccinations to take can be tricky both in selecting the right ones and locating places that offer them.

Start the effort to find out what type of vaccinations you need by consulting with your doctor.

Since vaccines are not always a one-size-fits-all proposition, your doctor is probably the only one who is qualified to assess the your risks between taking and not taking the vaccine. Depending on where you are traveling, your risk of foreign infections may not be as great as any risks associated with the vaccine. As a general rule, young healthy people with strong immune systems are safe when taking any of these vaccines. Seniors and others with weak immune systems may be better off not being vaccinated.

As your travel becomes more remote, your risk of infection increases.

Casual travelers, especially seniors, do not often end up in areas where they will be exposed to food, water, and insects that carry disease. Younger adventurers who like to hike deep into forests or spend large amounts of time in the undeveloped countries may find themselves in real danger if they are unvaccinated. Each foreign locale has its own variety of biological hazard. Most of the local health departments in larger communities can advise you on which vaccines are best for your travel plans. These agencies can also direct you to the location where the vaccines can be administered.

It pays to know what are the more prevalent diseases, how they are spread, and how the vaccine works.

Hepatitis A and typhoid are both spread through food and water. Areas with low sanitation and bad water supplies carry a high possibility of spreading these diseases. Taking two doses of the hepatitis A vaccine can give you protection for 20 or so years. The vaccine for typhoid is effective less than three quarters of the time. The disease itself is very treatable with antibiotics. You may be better off to carry the cure rather than take the vaccine if typhoid is the disease of the day.

Some of these diseases are all but a definite death sentence without the vaccines if you contract them.

Hepatitis B is spread through contact with the body fluids of an infected person. Rabies, while not a problem in most developed countries, can be a serious threat in some undeveloped and remote areas. Both of these diseases will bring a tragic end to those who contract them. Hepatitis B requires a vaccine administered in three doses that are spread apart at set intervals. The rabies vaccine can be administered after contact with a diseased animal, but if you are going to an area where medical services are not available, get the vaccine first.

Mosquitoes are responsible for infecting travelers with certain diseases.

In the tropics, yellow fever is the big disease on the block that is spread by mosquitoes. In Asia, the mosquito brings Japanese encephalitis along when it bites you. The problem with the yellow fever vaccine is that it contains a live virus that can make you sick. Only healthy people should line up for this vaccine. The Japanese encephalitis vaccine requires two doses to become effective. No one is sure how long it keeps you protected.

A final disease is spread from person to person by close contact.

Meningitis is a dreadful disease infecting the lining of the brain and spinal cord. If you are traveling for pleasure, you probably will not be at risk for this disease. Certain pilgrimages require this vaccine to be administered before the trip can be taken. However, no one is sure that the vaccine gives full protection for everyone against the disease.

Reference:

Conde Naste Traveler, 2011. “How to deal with the pricks;” page 70, June 2011.

Chocolate was originally a drink made with chili pepper until the Europeans decided to take the chili pepper out and replace it with sugar. It was a huge hit, but at the time only the wealthy could afford to drink it. Lucky for us simple folk, in the late 1700’s, chocolate started appearing on cakes and pastries allowing us to indulge also. Then in 1828, Conrad van Haten, invented the machine called the “hydraulic press” giving us our first cocoa. Yes, powdered chocolate. It was the very first Dark chocolate to come about.

Now chocolate is served world wide in just about any shape or form that you desire and is still the number one craved sweet. The myths however, that chocolate causes acne or tooth decay is false. Actually, chocolate has been everything from an anti-depressant to an aphrodisiac. As for me though, give me my trippled layer chocolate cake with extra chocolate frosting and two scoops of chocolate ice cream and I’m set. Bon appetit!

Unfortunately, the Philippines cannot brag about any environmental policies in any way. It is indeed true that a Waste Management Act has been implemented, yet if we look at our everyday lives; the sad reality comes crushing down on us Filipinos. We barely care for our environment. We see wrappers all over what should have been a green environment. We see people burning their garbage in their homes and on the streets. We even love to shower ourselves with the abundance of fresh water, which could have been saved. All of these things do not really imply that the Philippines is really affected by global warming (which it is in fact, but more of that later), rather it seems that Philippines plays a big role as a contributor in global warming.

Let us analyze the facts of outside causes of global warming. Many people believe (which is also true) that so called greenhouse gases that emit CO₂ into the atmosphere which causes the rays of the sun to be kept within the earth atmosphere for a longer time, since it bounces back. This causes an increase of temperature, which in turn causes more natural catastrophes. Although this is the main cause of global warming, there is yet another cause, which has something to do with the cycle of our Sun. Every ten to twelve years, the sun is in its peak and vice versa. The peak is the solar maximum, which means that this is when the sun is the hottest and emits more solar storms than ever. This period should be the solar maximum of the sun, since the last was in the 90s. This is also an important factor that contributes to global warming.

Let us look into what the Philippines are contributing in positive and negative ways; Our National Capital Region is clearly overpopulated and packed with vehicles. As we know, the air pollution problem is very much present in Metro Manila and the quality of our motor vehicles is far inferior than to those in first world countries. Our cars and motorcycles emit far more CO₂ than the refined ones abroad, which adds up to the worlds total in a significant way. Even though we produce far less CO₂ than USA or China, we have to acknowledge that our country is an archipelago and a developing country, and putting those two factors together, our greenhouse gas emissions do make a difference.

Another problem we are facing in the Philippines is not only corruption but the lack of strict implementation of the Republic Acts concerning the environment, such as RA 7586 a.k.a. NIPAS, the Waste Management Act, so on and so forth. The waste management act stated that by 2007, every City should have a waste facility, which has not been established so far in Dumaguete City. The recycling and collecting of garbage is also very problematic in the Philippines.

Finally we should ask ourselves the question if global warming is really that bad. And for the most it does not seem so, but let me remind you;

• It is because of global warming, that our Summers are getting hotter and our so-called winters are becoming more monsoon-like
• It is because of global warming that Dengue fever is spreading much farther and faster around the country due to increased humidity
• It is because of global warming that our shores will soon move closer by a meter or more each year (melting of the icecaps)
• It is because of global warming that more and more floods are affecting the Philippine islands and surrounding regions
• It is because of global warming that people hunger because their crops were destroyed in natural disasters such as storms, floods, or heat/dryness

The Philippines could even cease to exist because of global warming, because once the sea level has risen a couple of meters, even our highest mountains may not be high enough anymore to sustain a whole country.