Travel health
Traveller’s diarrhoea: a practical guide
How to lower the risk, look after yourself, and recognise when to seek medical care while travelling.
Traveller’s diarrhoea is common enough to plan for, and it can happen even when you are careful. This is general travel-health information, not a diagnosis or a personal treatment plan. If you have a medical condition, are pregnant, are travelling with a child, or take regular medication, make a plan with a clinician before you leave.
Before you go
Pack the basics you are likely to need: your regular medicines, a copy of your prescription, travel insurance details, and a small hygiene kit. If your destination has uncertain water quality, consider adding oral rehydration salts and ask a pharmacist or clinician what is appropriate for you.
If you have a condition that can make diarrhoea more serious, or you are travelling somewhere remote, get individual advice before the trip. A general guide cannot account for your medicines, allergies, or health history.
Lower the risk, without promising the impossible
Food and water precautions can reduce risk, but they cannot remove it completely. The CDC recommends washing hands with soap and water before eating and after using the toilet. When that is not available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitiser with at least 60% alcohol, then wash with soap and water when you can.
Where drinking water may be unsafe, choose factory-sealed bottled drinks or water that has been properly treated. Take the same care with ice, uncooked food, unpasteurised dairy, and food that has not been kept hot. These steps are useful, not a guarantee: restaurant hygiene and local sanitation are often outside a traveller’s control.
If you become unwell
The first priority is replacing lost fluid. Drink safe fluids regularly. Oral rehydration solution can be especially helpful when fluid loss is significant; follow the packet instructions and prepare it only with safe water.
Do not start antibiotics from a generic internet checklist. A clinician may give some travellers a personalised plan before departure, but the right choice depends on the destination, your health, and the symptoms you develop.
For a mild illness, choose rest and fluids, stay close to a toilet, and avoid turning an app or this article into a substitute for medical care. If symptoms are severe, a local clinician or travel-insurance assistance line is the right next step.
Get medical help when symptoms are severe
Seek medical advice promptly for bloody diarrhoea, a high fever, severe abdominal pain, repeated vomiting that prevents you from keeping fluids down, signs of dehydration, or symptoms that are not improving. People who are pregnant, immunocompromised, older, very young, or living with a chronic condition should seek individual advice sooner.
Signs of dehydration can include passing very little urine, a dry mouth or throat, or feeling dizzy when standing. Severe dehydration needs urgent care.
A note on toilets
Urgency is not a moral failure or a travel-planning mistake. Make the practical parts easier: keep water and your essentials accessible, choose a seat near a toilet when possible, learn the local word for toilet, and use Phoo to check what is nearby before you need it.
For the medical details behind this guide, use the official sources listed alongside it. They are the source of truth, and this article will be reviewed when those recommendations change.