Men and Women Travelers Face Different Illnesses
It's been well documented that traveling often can lead to sickness. Close quarters on planes can lead to the flu spreading quicker than soft butter on a biscuit.
Despite world travel making folks sick, a new study shows that men and women, oddly enough, tend to suffer different illnesses. Researches found that women are more prone to stomach problems and men are at higher risk of fevers and sexually transmitted diseases.
The University of Zurich surveyed almost 59,000 international travelers and found that women were more likely than men to come down with bouts of diarrhea or other gastrointestinal problems, colds, urinary tract infections and adverse reactions to medications, such as those taken to prevent malaria.
Men, on the other hand, had higher risks of fever, including from infections transmitted by mosquitoes, ticks or other such "vectors," such as malaria, dengue and rickettsia. Additionally, men were also more likely than women to be treated for mountain sickness, frostbite or sexually transmitted diseases.
The findings were based on data from 44 travel-medicine clinics throughout the world, all of which are part of a surveillance network designed to track travel-related ills and injuries.
Researches looked at records for 58,908 patients who visited those clinics between 1997 and 2007.
Of 29,643 women surveyed, one-quarter were treated for acute diarrhea, compared with 22 percent of men. However, when other factors were considered — like the length and destination of the trip — women were 13 percent to 39 percent more likely than men to seek treatment for diarrhea or symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome.
Just over 3 percent of men were treated for malaria, and roughly the same number sought treatment for dengue, which is also transmitted by mosquito. Compared that to rates of 1.5 percent and 1.7 percent, respectively, among women.
Overall, over 17 percent of men had some type of fever-inducing illness, versus 11 percent of women.
The reasons behind the differences in sex are not defined but one possibility, according to researchers, is that men make "more attractive hosts" to mosquitoes because the insects are lured by sweat and excessive sweating also washes off insect repellent.
Photo Credit: NY Daily News (Lauritz/Getty)
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