Preparing for Travel to Guyana- Frequently Asked Questions

Before your trip to Guyana, there are some preventive health care measures that you should consider. You should consult a health care provider for any necessary vaccines, anti-malarial medications, and any other medications and/or information that you may need for your travel. For a list of clinics that specialize in travel medicine in your area, click here.

There are guidelines that the CDC recommends for travel to Guyana:

• If you have a medical condition, you should consult your personal physician and share with him/her your upcoming travel plans
• Anti-Malarial medications- you will need to take one of the following antimalarial drugs: atovaquone/proguanil, doxycycline, or mefloquine. You should only take primaquine in special circumstances, and only after you have had G6PD testing by a health care professional. You need to continue taking your antimalarial drug for 4 weeks (doxycycline or mefloquine) or seven days (atovaquone/proguanil) after leaving Guyana

Note: Chloroquine is NOT an effective antimalarial drug in Guyana and should not be taken to prevent malaria in this region.

Note: Halofantrine (marketed as Halfan) is widely used overseas to treat malaria. CDC recommends that you do NOT use halofantrine because of serious heart-related side effects, including deaths.

• Be sure that your routine vaccinations are current. Routine vaccines are: polio, measles-mumps-rubella (MMR), and diphtheria-pertussis-tetanus (DPT). Although many childhood diseases are rare in the United States, they are often common in other countries. Therefore, if your vaccine is not current you run a higher risk of infection

***Please note, the following vaccines are recommended CDC guidelines for travel to Guyana. However, the areas of Guyana typically traveled during a HERO, Inc. sponsored trip are at low risk for contracting these illnesses. Furthermore, our HERO volunteers have not received these vaccines in the past. To date, there have been no cases of any of the diseases below related to traveling to Guyana on a HERO sponsored medical mission***

• Hepatitis A vaccine- recommended to all people traveling to or working in countries with intermediate or high level of Hepatitis A virus infection, where exposure might occur through food or water.
• Hepatitis B vaccine- recommended for all previously UNVACCINATED persons traveling to or working in countries with intermediate to high levels of endemic HBV transmission, especially people who might be exposed to blood or body fluids, have sexual contact with local population, or be exposed through medical treatment.
• Typhoid vaccine- recommended for all unvaccinated people traveling to or working in Tropical South America, especially if visiting smaller cities, villages, or rural areas and staying with friends or relatives where exposure may occur via food and water
• Rabies vaccine- recommended for all travelers spending a lot of time outdoors, especially in rural areas, involved in activities like camping, hiking, or work.

More FAQs What is malaria? Malaria is a serious and potentially fatal disease that is spread from the bite of a mosquito infected with the disease-causing parasite. You can prevent this disease by taking the aforementioned prophylaxis and also by protecting yourself from mosquitoes.

Malaria symptoms include: fever, chills, sweats, nausea and vomiting, fatigue, body aches, jaundice. These symptoms typically occur 7-10 days after being bitten by an infected mosquito. Infection with Plasmodium falciparum, a specific type of malaria, may cause kidney failure, coma, and death. Of note, despite precautionary measures, it is possible to develop malaria up to one year after returning from your trip. You should seek treatment by a physician and tell them of your trip if you develop flu-like symptoms within a year of your return from Guyana.

Other insect-spread diseases found in Guyana - Dengue, filariasis, leishmaniasis, onchocerciasis, and 'Chagas' disease are also spread by insects in Guyana. There have been documented epidemics of viral encephalitis and dengue fever. Protecting yourself against insect bites as stated below will help to prevent these diseases.

What preventive and protective items should I bring?

• Any and all medications that you take daily. Be sure that these medications are in compliance with the new travel guidelines for liquids if your medications are in liquid form.
• Over the counter medicine for diarrhea as diseases from food and water often cause vomiting and diarrhea
• Sunblock, sunglasses, hats, and mosquito protective clothing to wear outside- (i.e. lightweight long-sleeved shirts, long pants)
• Bottled water for drinking and brushing teeth
• Insect repellant with 30%-50% DEET. Picaridin, available in 7% and 15% concentrations, needs more frequent application. Also, there is less information available on how effective picaridin is at protecting against all of the types of mosquitoes that transmit malaria.
• Hand sanitizer/antibacterial wet wipes
• Inform other HERO team members of any medical conditions that you have, and what to do should a medical emergency occur

Frequently asked Questions:

How often do you go and where in Guyana?

Encouraged by our initial experience, we decided to make annual medical missions to Guyana. Each successive year the medical teams have gotten bigger and we are able to evaluate and treat a growing number of people in even more communities, which now involve areas in and around the capital city, Georgetown. HERO now sponsors 2 medical and 2 surgical missions per year.

We now serve most of the communities in Region 10 including those along the Berbice river from Kwakwani to Sand Hill. Since the flood of 2005 we have served communities in and around the capital city, Georgetown.

Who goes on a trip?

Historically, we have taken Doctors, Nurses, Pharmacists, Nurses, Mid-level providers; Medical students and Pre-medical students.

What kinds of conditions do you treat?

Among the common illnesses we treat are: Diabetes Mellitus, High Blood Pressure, Arthritis, Chronic Back Pain, Malaria, Asthma, Typhoid, diarrheal illnesses, skin rashes such as Scabies, Lotta (tinea Versicola), and Ground Itch (tinea pedis). We sometimes identify life threatening conditions that we are able to facilitate access to urgent medical care. We also spearhead a project called Operation Kids Care (double click for write up) where our volunteer Orthopedic Surgeons perform corrective surgeries on children with mostly congenital orthopedic deformities - often life transforming procedures.

What happens to the patients when the medical team leaves?

We work closely with the Regional Health Officer and the local health care professionals at the various clinics. We encourage the patients to routinely follow-up at the clinics that serve the communities that they live in. We also send medical supplies to the clinics throughout the year.

What kinds of prophylaxis does one require prior to going on a medical relief trip?

If you are going to be in area outside of any of the major cities then prophylaxis against Malaria is recommended. We do not require our volunteers to be vaccinated against Yellow fever, Hepatitis A or B (please add) . We emphasize drinking only bottled water and avoid the consumption of raw sea foods and poorly cooked meats.

How are the trips financed?

Our first medical trip was made on a shoe-string budget. We gathered donated pharmaceuticals and medical supplies from various medical offices. Each volunteer paid their air fair and the Region Office in Region 10 provided us with basic accommodation in Linden.

We have since developed organized fundraising events that are held throughout the year. We are a not-for-profit organization that depends largely on public support for our funding. The money we raise goes directly towards the purchase of medical supplies, accommodation and transportation for team members while in Guyana.

Volunteers are required to come up with their air fare to Guyana.