Traveller's Diarrhoea

Comments from Expert Advisory Committee

• Discuss the likelihood of travellers’ diarrhoea with someone who is planning to travel and advise about avoidance measures to decrease the risk of illness: safe foods, beverages, and eating establishments
• Consider referring travellers who have special health needs (for example, HIV infection, immunocompromised, pregnant) to a specialist travel clinic for advice
• Limit prescription of antibiotics to be carried abroad and taken if illness develops to people travelling to remote areas and for people in whom an episode of infective diarrhoea could be dangerous. See table below for further information.
• AVOID the routine use of prophylactic antibiotics - consider only for people who are at high risk of travellers' diarrhoea and its consequences - seek specialist advice before prescribing.
• Useful links for additional information;
  • Centre for Disease Control and Prevention: Travellers' Diarrhea
  • TravelHealthPro - travellers’ diarrhoea

Treatment

Patient Information

We recommend patients use the website developed by HSE/ICGP/IPU partnership www.undertheweather.ie for tips on how to get better from common infections without using antibiotics, what you can do for yourself or a loved one and when to seek help.

The HSE Health A-Z website provides patient information on many hundreds of conditions and treatments.

• Visit HPSC Information Leaflets pages for the General Public, (MRSA, CRE, etc)

Safe Prescribing (visit the safe prescribing page)

• Doses are oral and for adults unless otherwise stated
• Clarithromycin and other macrolides warning
• Renal impairment dosing table
• Drug interactions table. Extensive drug interactions for clarithromycin, fluoroquinolones, azole antifungals and rifampicin. Many antibiotics increase the risk of bleeding with anticoagulants.
• Visit the Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA) website for detailed drug information (summary of product characteristics and patient information leaflets). Dosing details, contraindications and drug interactions can also be found in the Irish Medicines Formulary (IMF) or other reference sources such as British National Formulary (BNF) / BNF for children (BNFC).

Reviewed March 2021