Gadling

Science Daily released an interesting article, based on research conducted at University of Massachusetts Amherst, that shows the low risk of air travel and bacterial illness.

Bacteria that was present in aircraft -- with exotic names like Psuedomonas, Bacillus and Staphylococcus -- are commonly found on healthy skin and not generally causative organisms of disease.

The research team sampled the air from twelve aircraft (Boeing 767) cabins with flight times of 4.5 to 6.5 hours. The samples were taken from the coach section of the plane at 6 different intervals, including boarding, climb, cruise and deplaning. As expected, the highest concentrations of bacteria was found during boarding and deplaning. When the passengers move through the plane, their activity stirs up dust and skin bacteria, releasing it into the cabin air. During the flight, the bacteria levels decreased, likely due to a decrease in activity in the cabin.

Medical News Today ran an interesting article covering the efficacy of rectally given anti-malarial medications. The purpose of using a suppository to deliver the medicine, Artemisinins, is a fairly new concept and can prove useful to prevent a life-threatening delay of intra-venous medications to combat severe forms of malaria.

The study looked at over 1000 patients and compared rectal administrations of several different medical compounds, all artemisinin derivatives. Interestingly, the article also compared these medicines with a standard treatment of quinine.

Ease of administration, portability and lack of special training for use are benefits of rectally administered medications. Delays in treatment of severe forms of malaria can result in death and travelers who are in remote locations and suffering from malaria might benefit from beginning this form of treatment, while seeking definitive medical care.

This might also serve as a reminder that the person trying to treat you for malaria in a remote area actually knows what they are doing when they are "checking down there".

This last weekend, I had very little time off and was in bad need of a trip and a little adventure. Knowing that I had to work this weekend, I chose to take my "vacation" to Azeroth. My decision to visit there was a great choice and I had a weekend full of adventures, looted treasure, monsters and magic. I visited several continents around Azeroth and only died a few times.

For my trip, I booked a tour with Naturally Rebellious, a guild with a lot of experience touring "noobs" around both continents. I can say that my guides were very professional, gave great service and explanations as we went, including history of the areas. They even cooked for me, secured lodgings and taught me a few things to keep me out of trouble on the journey. In fact, they had to heal me after several close calls, including a severe bear mauling, outside Astranaar.

The tour started in the beautiful city of Darnassus, the capital of the Night Elves and probably the safest city on both continents. My guides met me at the Warrior's Terrace and made sure I was properly equipped for adventures. I needed a sword, bow, armor, magical potions and some food.

Darnassus was a great city and very beautiful. Merchants and craftsmen have their shops built, alongside houses, right into the massive trees. It reminded me of the redwood forests in Northern California. There is even a large lake in the center, where I learned to fish. After a few tries, I was able to start dragging some Longjaw Mud Slappers to the shore. After a bit of preparation and the standard guide safety briefing, including waivers and something about "risk of death and if death does occur, Naturally Rebellious is required to resurrect said corpse within 5 minutes" we started. It was a little un-settling.

The trip out of Darnassus involved an animal called a Gryphon. This is basically a large flying bird, ridden like a horse. Surprisingly, they were kept in very good condition by their trainers and did not smell as bad as I expected. I learned this was to be our primary means of transport, for the tour. Darnassus is on an island, and there are boats to travel to the mainland, but the gryphon was a great way to get a "bird's eye view" of the landscape and see the area. Next stop...the Continent of Kalimdor and the port city of Auberdine.

Auberdine was my first real chance to get some adventuring in and test out my newly acquired skills. We gathered some herbs and I learned to make some potions of my own. I was fighting with the bears for a bit and had a great time. I noticed I was quickly ushered out of the city by my guides and told it was "for my own protection". Apparently, this is a favorite raiding area for the "bad guys" of the world, the vile Horde. True to form, the horde showed up and laid quite a massacre on the unprepared and those insane enough to join the fight. I would advise extreme caution in this town, due to political instability and civil unrest. Still, the town was nice and the clam chowder was superb.

Pushing on, we took the gryphons to the Barrens for a wildlife safari. Roaming around the vast, dusty plains allowed us to see some exciting animals, very up close and personal. Highlights included the Zhevra, a cross between a unicorn and a zebra and the Kodo, a very large and slow dinosaur type creature. We visited the Goblin city of Ratchet. A meal of bear steaks and blood sausage topped off the visit, before we headed down to the Shimmering Flats to watch a drag car race at Mirage Raceway. I even got an autograph and picture with the champion driver Nazz Steamboil!

Our next leg was one of the most exciting for me, because we got to take a long boat trip, from the port city of Ratchet, to the other continents of the Eastern Kindgoms. We docked in Booty Bay, a pirate and goblin town on the southern most part of the land. Fishing is the center of business in Booty Bay, unless you count piracy. After a hard day of fishing and fighting both buccaneers and angry gorillas, we stayed at the notorious Salty Sailor Tavern. This was my first experience with Junglevine Wine and we ate some very good Spotted Yellowtail and Rockscale Cod. I even entered the weekly fishing tournament and won a lucky fishing hat! If you make it by the Salty Sailor, tell Nixxrax Fillamug, the bartender, I sent you.

Our final stop was the human's capital city, Stormwind. This is Azeroth's version of New York City. Everything is here and you can learn or buy what ever you can imagine. The Trade District was bustling with people chatting, checking their mail, making trades, purchasing new gear and running from district to district, within the city. The statues lining the entrance to the city were majestic and I even enjoyed the smoky and noisy Dwarven District. No trip to Stormwind is complete without a trip to the Mage Quarter and the Wizard's Sanctum that houses the Stormwind Academy of Arcan Sciences.

With great sadness, I knew this trip to Azeroth was over. I wasn't too worried because I knew I would visit again, very soon. I made some great friends and killed a few Orcs at the same time. If this sounds like your type of fun, pick up a copy of World of Warcraft and take a trip you won't soon forget. When was the last time you got to save a princess, overthrow an empire and catch some fish all in the same day? Now that is a vacation!

Sure, we've all thought about it and some of us do it often. Getting high on your holiday trip can be pretty fun, in fact. I mean really high, above 11,500 feet (3500 m). Not everything cool is on a beach at sea-level. Ruins in the Andes, trekking in the Himalayas and chasing back country powder are a few things you have to get high, to do. These trips are all "dream vacations," so why risk a problem with altitude sickness?

High altitude is considered to be 1500 - 3500 m (4950 - 11,500 ft) while very high altitude covers 3500 to 5500 m (11,500-18,050 ft). Anything above 5500 m falls into the extreme altitude category. Altitude sickness is not related to physical fitness and can have some deadly consequences, if not recognized and treated promptly.

Accute Mountain Sickness generally includes symptoms of headache, worse at night or during straining, nausea/vomiting and dizziness. The symptoms are often described as a "bad hangover".

Some conditions associated with more severe forms of altitude sickness or AMS (acute mountain sickness) include HACE (high altitude cerebral edema) and HAPE (high altitude pulmonary edema). These conditions involve swelling and fluid accumulation in the respective tissues. Swelling of the brain, as seen in HACE, can present as marked stupor and confusion. HAPE, with fluid collecting in the person's lungs, often starts as a cough followed by progressive shortness of breath.

Most people that read Gadling are travelers. After talking to a lot of my more mobile friends, I see that they got interested in travel at a young age, often from their family. Turns out, a love for travel can be genetic, and chances are you come from a long, long line of travelers.

The National Geographic Genographic Project headed by Spencer Wells looks at tracing every person's journey genetically. Wells, who has authored several books on the subject of population genetics, is interested in seeing how people have arrived at their current location. Starting from African and the "one mother theory" about 60,000 years ago, this projects looks at the spread of humans over the earth and their genetic differences and similarities acquired on the way. One can even see how close to extinction the human race was.

Fantastic stories of people crossing the land bridges between continents, trekking through deserts in Africa and sailing across oceans -- your ancestors experienced this! You can follow your personal journey, through comparison of DNA, and see where you've been and what types of genes you are carrying. I was quite surprised to see my journey. I am very light skinned and fair haired and was shocked to see that I had a lot of genetic connections to Central Asia. Looking at the pictures of people sampled from that region, I saw similar features to my grandfathers and relatives.

The coolest thing about the Genographic project is that it is "people powered." It needs your participation to work. You can purchase a kit to create your own DNA cheek swab and send in your data. Wells and his team will analyze your chromosomes and compare them with their database. This will give you a personal map and story of your journey.

This project will continue to shed light on migratory patterns and evolution of humans, as a species, for years to come. It will also hopefully show people just how similar we all are and how intertwined our paths have become.

The Hanta Virus is a little known problem of those who live and travel in the American Southwest. Unfortunately, Hanta has a reputation for killing people and should be taken seriously. A recent article discusses a case from February, 2008. Knowledge of transmission and prevention are needed to prevent a great "Indiana Jones" style adventure, visiting ghost towns, from making you very sick.

Hanta Virus first got major media attention with an outbreak in New Mexico in the early 1990's. The "Four Corners" area (Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and Colorado) was the epicenter of infectious disease and epidemiological research. This outbreak allowed researchers to determine that the disease is spread through contact with infected rodent urine and feces. Spread of Hanta between humans, directly, is not common and believed impossible.

Rodents are ubiquitous in the American Southwest and they are the primary vector for disease transmission. People especially vulnerable to this are hikers and backpackers and those who live in more rural areas. Exploration of ghost towns is a popular vacation activity and caution should be taken when doing this. These ghost towns attract the rodents and visitors to these buildings are putting themselves at potential risk through contact with animal urine and feces. However, of more than 100 reported cases, only 2 have come from hikers. The rest are from people cleaning their garages, vacation homes and other areas that include rodents excreta. Bleach solution and rubber gloves are proper protection measures, along with adequate ventilation while cleaning vacation homes or garages.

Hanta Virus symptoms include a flu-like illness with muscle aches and pains, headaches, nausea and vomiting and fatigue being common. There is no cure for Hanta Virus and care is supportive (treating the symptoms only). Worse is the Hanta Pulmonary form that classically appears after the person appears to have recovered from the initial infection. The person;s lungs fill with fluid and progression can be quite rapid, in hours in fact.

There have been 76 cases in New Mexico, since 1993, with 31 deaths.

I was, recently, lucky enough to get an "escape weekend" from Chicago to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. On the drive to Milwaukee, along Interstate 94, I found a mecca of cheese and salami. Mars' Cheese Castle is not only an almost mandatory pit-stop for those traveling between Chicago and Milwaukee, but it is a treasure trove of tasty foods and great service. Part restaurant, bar, gourmet deli and gift shop, this is a worth the stop!

I am a big fan of wines, cheeses and various meats/salami. Mars' Cheese Castle satiated my appetites quite nicely. An easy access location allows an easy break from the Interstate and ample parking makes it tough to say "no" to a quick stop for supplies.

Wisconsin is known for great cheese and the Castle doesn't disappoint. Immediately, upon entrance, the deli counter is in view. Packed with great things, both local production and foreign, I was lost for about an hour just browsing. Of course you can get famous and fresh Wisconsin Cheese Curds, in many varieties. I was surprised, by the store's humble appearance, at the selection of imported cheeses including Gruyere, blues and goat cheeses.

Their meat section contains a nice selection of sausages and various luncheon meats. Usinger's products are prominently featured and after a few taste tests, I saw why. There are also some interesting gift ideas, such as sausages shaped like beer bottles. For something to add to your salami and cheese collection, hit their fresh bakery in the back of the store. Fresh cheese, bread, danishes, and rolls are made several times per day.

While you are busy buying foods for your picnic or to enjoy later that night, browse their gift section with some eclectic items that are uniquely "Wisconsin." The Green Bay packers logo is on every conceivable item you could imagine. Cows are another common subject and a better collection of "Brick-a-Brack" or "Chotckies" could not be found, anywhere.

What good is all this food without a little wine or beer too wash it down? While there, we managed to get a few bottles of Von Stiehl Wine, from a surprisingly good selection considering they also had beer shaped salami. Still, it is a beer brewing state and beers, beer steins and gift boxes they have a ton of.

Mars' Cheese Castle is easy to see from the highway and easy to get to. The food and beverage selection is impressive and you can get a dish towel with a smiling Wisconsin cow picture. What else can you ask for on a road trip through Wisconsin? Next time you are in southern Wisconsin, stop by and make sure you are hungry!

[See map]

As the weather begins to get a little less wintery we are already beginning to discuss our summer trips. A beach trip is always a favorite. Laying on the shore with a bit of swimming and relaxation are just what's needed after a long, cold winter. But there are a few hazards that can ruin a good trip to a dive spot or beach -- best to start thinking about them now, so if there is a problem, you'll be ready to deal with it.

One of my most favorite quotes on the subject of bites and stings actually comes from WC Fields. "Always carry a flagon of whiskey in case of snakebite and furthermore always carry a small snake."

Jelly Fish are beautiful creatures to watch swim and some of the most interesting marine life. They can also cause a lot of pain and problems if you get stung. Jellyfish sting with their tentacles that contain thousands of nematocysts. Thus, a single creature can produce many, many stings.

The first priority, for a jellyfish sting victim, is to make sure they are still breathing properly and not having a severe allergic reaction. Burning at the site, numbness, nausea and swelling are all common reactions. A topical decontaminant is what is next. Get those stingers to stop causing problems! The nematocysts can generally be 'de-activated" with a solution of vinegar, rubbing alcohol or baking soda, poured over the wound. This will also help relieve the pain. Papain, found in meat tenderizer may also be helpful. Removal of the stingers can be aided by shaving the area, with a sharp razor and shaving cream. A local antibiotic/antiseptic cream can now be applied, with or without a low dose steroid cream. For those who just have to adventure in known jellyfish areas, a StingerSuit might be a good consideration. Oh, save the pee for the bathroom as it has not been proven to be of benefit and it is kind of gross.

There are a few famous jellies to know about. First is Chironex Fleckerii (Box Jellyfish), from Australia. This sting can be fatal to humans and extreme caution should be taken in waters where they live. The other bad-guy is Irukandji (Carukia Barnesi), also from Australia. This jelly is only about the size of a large coin and very deadly. Swimmers can often miss seeing them, until it is too close by to avoid.

Make sure to pay attention to life-guards and warning signs for the beaches you are visiting. The best advice is to avoid areas with abundance of jellyfish and head to another beach that is safer.

The recent incident involving the woman who died mid-air has drawn attention to travelers who choose to fly when seriously ill. CNN ran an article offering advice for those who fly while sick, and to summarize, they advise against it. I consider myself a student of remote medicine and medical care with limited resources, and I am finding it difficult to think of a more remote, under-equipped location than a commercial airliner at 30,000 feet.

The CNN article discussed a company called MedAire and their advice to consider postponing flight plans when ill. The basic theory is that if someone is sick on the ground, their condition will likely be exacerbated by the cabin pressure, making them worse. MedAire reports that they receive approximately 50 in-flight calls per day from pilots with sick passengers and documented 97 on-board deaths for 2007.

Federal law requires that all US commercial airliners carry basic medical supplies including an AED (automatic external defibrillator), oxygen and a basic medical kit. The purpose of the AED is to detect a lethal cardiac arrhythmia and deliver a lifesaving shock, that hopefully converts the heart to a safe rhythm. The contents of the medical kit vary, but generally include aspirin, nitroglycerin, alcohol swabs, anti-histamines, broncho-dilators, epinephrine, dextrose, a blood pressure cuff and stethoscope, shears and IV tubing with saline fluid. The article also points out that although flight attendants have training in handling in-flight emergencies, they are not medically trained.

Perhaps the most important lesson that can be learned from this article is that a traveler is ultimately responsible for their own safety and well-being at all times. There is a tendency to take for granted the fact that most people reading this live in areas where an ambulance service and trained medical care are merely a phone call away. This is not always the case when traveling -- especially at 30,000 feet above the ground.

Some basic pre-planning for a flight should include a carry-on bag with ample supply of medications and a list of medical conditions. Loose, comfortable clothing and proper hydration cannot be stressed enough.

A very good and informative article from the Aerospace Medical Association offers some tips for healthy airline travel.

The Ugandan Ministry of Health declared their outbreak of Ebola Virus officially over on Februrary 20th. If anybody have seen the movie Outbreak, they will remember the first few scenes involving the Ebola Virus. This is one of those dark, scary viruses that has crawled out of the forests and has been wreaking havoc since 1976.

Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever is spread through direct contact with body fluids of someone who is already infected with the virus. Another likely way to get this is from handling dead animals found in Central African forests. Famous for its case fatality rate of an amazing 55-90%, this is something you want to avoid. Symptoms include high fevers, rash, vomiting and diarrhea. Then it gets bad: multi-organ system failure, uncontrolled bleeding from the eyes, gums and rectum are common in the severe forms. There is no known cure.

This particular outbreak was a source of much attention, due to neighboring countries closing their borders in an attempt to contain the spread. Of interest to travelers to the area, the general traveler is not at risk for Ebola and the WHO did not issue any travel precautions to the area.