In Reply to: the belly posted by harrisfm on Thursday, 10. March 2005 at 20:25 Bali Time:
..Dukoral is what you are talking about. It is a vaccine but only for E Coli (ETEC) which in it's various forms is responsible for about 50% of illness. This is why it is only effective against about 50% of infections. However if you are in high risk group of suffering unduly from dehydration (children, elderly, pregnant women etc.)then you should definitely consider taking them.
Virtually 100% of infections are bacterial. There are only two things that can help. Your own immune system and antibiotics. Absolutely nothing else will cure you. There are things you can take that can help with the symptoms such as Imodium but these will only block you up and not kill the bacteria that cause the infection. The human body will normally flush the offending bacteria within 48-72 hours.
Everybody is different. Two people can eat the same meal from the same plate and one can get ill and not the other. The difference being the individuals own immune system. One of the factors is the amount of acid you carry in your stomach, these are naturally occurring stomach acids but it is believed that consuming certain things can increase your stomach acid...Blackcurrant Cordial would be among this group as would anything with a high acid content (fruit juices). Having said that there is no way drinking this can completely stop an ETEC infection or for that matter Salmonella, Shigella and Campylobacter (which are the three main other bacteria responsible for illness)........ if you are unlucky enough to consume more bacteria than your gut can handle then you will get sick and the only course of action is Antibiotics and waiting for your immune system to sort it out. Sickness can occur within five minutes to several hours later.
Children definitely have a poorer gut immune system than adults as do some older people in the 60+ age group so if I had kids then I would definitely give them Dukoral prior to travel as there is a 99% chance of it stopping an E Coli infection. I would do the same if I had an elderly relative traveling with me, not just because they are more likely to be infected but because they
I am getting married in Bali in September and will definitely take Dukoral prior to travel only to try and reduce the possibility of being sick on the big day. If I was not getting married I probably would not bother. Sensible precautions against e coli are avoiding beef, milk and water (purified is fine)......
....anyway, that's my two cents worth!!