Whenever you are travelling:

• Ensure you take adequate medicines and prescriptions with you, along with extra supplies in case your trip is delayed.
• Check the expiry date to make sure your medicines will not expire during your trip.
• Medicines should be transported in the original packaging whenever possible
• A health summary including any allergies and a medication list including generic names is helpful.
• Always keep your medications in your hand luggage in case your luggage gets delayed or lost.
• Heat and sunlight can cause your medicines to deteriorate, resulting in them being less effective. Keep medicines cool and away from sunlight by putting them in a bag when travelling.
• Medicines should be kept at room temperature, between 20-25°C. Insulated bags, polystyrene containers or a small esky can help to protect your medicines from the heat.
• Do not leave your medicines in a hot car and never in the glove box or on the dashboard.
• Ask your pharmacist for advice when travelling, especially about any new medicines that are prescribed or advised specifically for the trip, such as drugs for malaria prophylaxis, and which drugs to carry in a medical kit.

Travelling overseas:

• Medicines subsidised by the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) can only be taken out of Australia for your personal use or a dependant that you are accompanying, such as a child.
• Take a letter from your doctor, detailing usage and amounts, to declare at customs.
• In some instances, patients are advised to contact the embassies of countries they will be visiting to ensure their medication is legal in that country
• Medicines most affected by legal restrictions are narcotic analgesics and amphetamines.
• Buying medicines overseas can be problematic, due to variations in brand names and problems with counterfeit drugs.
• In parts of Asia, Africa and South America prescription medicine may be counterfeit, which can cause problems with toxicity and efficacy.
• If you need to purchase medicines overseas, check the generic name and get advice from a pharmacist.
• Always purchase your medicine from a reputable source and never from a street market.

Travelling across time zones:

• Can cause confusion about when to take medicines.
• Can cause decreased contraception effectiveness when flying west, where the time between doses is prolonged if based on local time. Travellers, taking the oral contraceptive pill, can take a second watch and leave this set to the time at home. When adapting to local time on arrival, the traveller should err on the side of a shorter dosage interval rather than extending the dosage interval.
• The timing of diabetes drugs during travel is a common medicines management problem. Patients on oral hypoglycaemic drugs should take them as prescribed, according to the local time. Those taking insulin should seek advice from their specialist on adjusting the doses if time zone changes are involved.

For further information about travelling with medicines:
Zwar, N. Australian Prescriber. Travelling with Medicines. Vol 29, Issue 3.
MedicinesTalk Summer 2007: Going away? Keep your medicines cool.

Managing Sea Creature Stings and Bites: December 2007

Australian coastal waters are home to several sea creatures that cause stings and bites.

Bluebottles and the deadly boxed jellyfish are particularly common in Australian waters.

Bluebottles

• Bluebottle stings cause a rash or redness that can remain for hours or days.
• If stung, first wash them off with seawater, carefully remove the tentacles and then wash the area with very warm water or have a hot shower.

Box jellyfish

Box jellyfish stings can lead to death with 20-30 minutes.

• If stung, remove the tentacles off the wound and generously apply vinegar and seek urgent medical attention.
• Localised pain can be treated with ice packs, but may require a painkiller and treatment in hospital.

The box jellyfish are found in waters off Northern Queensland.

For further information on sea creature stings, view the media release and/or the full article in Australian Prescriber.

If you think this article is of interest for your newsletters please feel free to copy and attribute to NPS.

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