The indispensable
- Refuse any medical procedure if you are not certain that it will be performed with sterile, new and single-use equipment.
- In case of specific comorbidities, bring your own sterile single-use equipment, with a prescription.
- Do not take antibiotics without medical advice (multi-resistant bacteria are common).
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Some treatments are dictated by circumstances (traumatic accident, surgical emergency, malaria…), others result from the development of medical tourism (dental care, scheduled surgery, plastic surgery), and expose those who use them to specific risks.
Risks associated with injections or invasive procedures
In countries with inadequate health infrastructure, blood transfusions represent a major risk of transmission through blood of pathogens, including hepatitis B and C viruses and HIV.
Medical treatments involving intravenous (IV), intramuscular (IM) and subcutaneous (SC) injections, incisions, endoscopy, acupuncture, and mesotherapy also expose patients to infectious risks.
To limit these risks, it is recommended to refuse any procedure where it is not certain that it will be performed with sterile, new single-use equipment (needles, syringes, acupuncture needles, scarified cupping cups) or equipment that has been subjected to prior appropriate sterilization.
For travelers with specific comorbidities, it is advisable to carry sterile single-use equipment (syringes, needles) (with a prescription justifying it).
Medical and paramedical personnel on assignment in a country with a high prevalence of HIV infection must be able, in the event of an accident involving exposure to biological fluids, to receive post-exposure treatment ideally within four hours, and at the latest within 48 hours, after specialist medical advice.
Hospitalization abroad – multidrug-resistant bacteria (MDRB)
Healthcare-associated infections, particularly in hospital settings (nosocomial), are common in developing countries and the bacteria involved are often multidrug-resistant: methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), extended-spectrum beta-lactamase-producing Enterobacteriaceae (ESBL-E), carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae (CPE).Enterococcus faecium glycopeptide-resistant (ERG), Acinetobacter baumannii resistant to imipenem, Pseudomonas aeruginosa multi-resistant, MDR (multi-resistant) and XDR (extensively resistant) tuberculosis and environmental mycobacteria.
In the event of repatriation with hospitalization or hospitalization upon return from a trip, patients must be screened for gastrointestinal carriage of emerging highly antibiotic-resistant bacteria (BHRe) of the EPC and ERG type (E.faecium only).
Source: Guide to Health Recommendations for Travellers from the High Council of Public Health
