| What is Travellers’ Diarrhoea? |
Travellers' Diarrhoea (TD) is the number
1 health problem in international travel and according to medical authorities affects almost one (1) in two (2) travellers.
It is known by many colourful names including Tourista, Bali Belly, Montezuma's
Revenge, Trotsky's, Gastro, Delhi Belly, Runs, etc. The symptoms of TD are
abdominal cramps, fever, diarrhoea and vomiting. In almost a
third (1/3) of TD victims, the symptoms will be severe enough to confine
them to bed. TD occurs within days of going to a new area and
will seriously affect your enjoyment of a holiday or the effectiveness
on a business trip!
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| In which countries do you suggest
I use Travelan? |
All countries!
Any country different from which you normally live in could potentially
be a threat due to the difference in the bugs or because of the practice
of poor hygiene e.g. in any restaurant / catering environment where hygiene standards could slip or contaminated water is used.
Some areas are a higher risk to travellers than others, countries such as South
and Latin America; Africa; Middle East; Asia and the Indian
Sub-Continent are particularly high risk.
In addition, areas with poor sanitation - in particular of the water supply
- are especially high-risk.
For health conscious people, Travelan
is travel assurance for your gastrointestinal system.
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| How do I use Travelan? |
Travelan is designed to be taken before every
meal.
Until now, normal travel hygiene
practices were: "Wash your hands, clean all surfaces and utensils. Boil it, cook it, peel it or open the bottle yourself"
summarised that approach. Now however, we have the assurance of using Travelan.
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| How soon before meals should
I take Travelan? |
Ideally a Travelan caplet is taken prior to a meal.
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| What is TD as apposed to common Diarrhoea? |
In many cases common diarrhoea is caused by Ecoli infection and similar symptoms can be experienced. Often refers to as Gasto.
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| What should I do if I forget
to take Travelan before my meal? |
Hospital trials were successful when caplets were taken before exposure to the bugs but Travelan could still act in time if taken immediately after consuming any meal or drink. It is also possible that some active antibodies may still be present in the intestine when taken with a caplet with the previous meal, providing some carry over cover.
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| When would it be recommended
to take additional caplets? |
Additional caplets may be taken when you feel increased cover is required i.e drinking an open beverage in a remote location, similarily, when snacking at street vendors.
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| What were the results of the clinical trials? |
Travelan underwent stringent independant medical double-blinded,
placebo-controlled trials in Europe and the USA. These trials
showed protection of up to 90% against infection with the types
of E.coli that cause TD and common diarrhoea. The trials also showed that
the few people who received Travelan but were still affected
by the E.coli had significantly reduced levels of discomfort and diarrhoea episodes, compared to those who did
not receive Travelan.
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| Is Travelan safe? |
Travelan contains cow's milk proteins, lactose and glucose. This means that if a daily dose is 3 caplets (1 caplet with each meal) this would be equivalent to approx. 500mg of milk protein (0.5grams).
The amount of lactose in Travelan has been reduced to less than 10%, compared to about 50% in skim milk powder.
Therefore the total daily dose of lactose in Travelan is well below the level at which clinical signs can be experienced.
Similarly for Diabetics, the amount of glucose per caplet is only 50mg, which means a daily dose of approx. 150mg.
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| What is the science behind Travelan ? |
| Immunising a cow with microbial vaccines raises the concentration of specific antibodies to these microbes in blood and in the dairy products of the cow. In this instance, Travelan utilises the antibodies as extracted from the first highly concentrated product called colostrum. Such "hyperimmune" colostrum can be used to provide increased specific protection against different diseases.
The colostrum in Travelan is harvested from Australian
dairy cows that have been immunised with an Anadis patented
vaccine to produce very high levels of specific antibodies
against the common strains of Enterotoxigenic E.coli,
the most common bacterial cause of TD and diarrhoea in general. The specific antibodies
in Travelan bind to these E.coli in the gastrointestinal
tract and inhibit their attachment to the gut wall, significantly reducing
the chance of the bacteria secreting toxins and causing TD.
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| Are the cows affected by the
immunisations? |
The vaccines used to immunise the cows are approved by the Australian Authorities (eg APVMA and AQIS) and have been found to be safe and effective. No side effects or adverse reactions were found in any of the cows. Independent Animal Ethics committees regularly approve all cow immunisations and all vaccinations are done by registered veterinarians.
Calves are not deprived of this essential nutrient as cows give much more than the calf can use.
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| If we take Travelan but still
get diarrhoea, do we keep taking Travelan? |
Travelan is specifically designed to significantly reduce
the risk of infection with Enterotoxigenic E.coli,
the common cause of TD and diarrhoea, however, if you have vomiting and diarrhoea,
caused by another less common bacteria or parasite, the anti-microbial properties of
Travelan would help against these other infectious agents as
well but it is not specifically intended as a treatment product.
If symptoms persist more than 48 hours, seek medical advice.
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