If you’re planning a trip abroad, especially with kids, you’ve got to have the flu on your
mind. The fact is we are talking about a very serious health problem if the H5N1 avian flu strain migrates and mutates
into a form that is lethal and passable among humans. I mean, you’d have to be living in a cave to have
missed the potential for a global pandemic. But how should this affect your plans?
Well the New York Times has put together a very helpful
FAQ to help you discern if the flu is something
that might affect your trip. The FAQ urges you to get that flu shot if you’re heading overseas (and why not just do it
anyway), and says that travel, even to China is probably OK.
Dr. R. Bradley Sack, director of the Johns Hopkins International Travel Medicine Service says in the
FAQ says ”As a generalization, I think it is safe to say there has been no indication that human-to-human
transmission is occurring, except in rare instances.” So be wary, but don’t ruin your plans to travel.