Travel Healthy, Travel Smart

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* Where sanitation is iffy, rely on bottled water or canned beverages, or disinfect by boiling for up to three minutes, filtering or treating with chlorine or iodine pills. Look for water carrying the International Bottled Water Association seal, and be cautious of bottles that may have been opened and re-sealed. When showering, keep water out of your mouth, nose and open wounds.

* Bring portable water purifiers that treat for bacteria, protozoa and viruses, such as General Ecology's First Need Deluxe or HydroPhoton's ultraviolet Steri-Pen Adventurer purifiers, both available at REI ($97-$130; www.rei.com, 800-426-4840).

Mosquitoes and Other Vectors

While protecting against food-borne illness is your first line of defense, other diseases await unwary travelers. Take care when swimming, as schistosomiasis, carried by parasitic worms, and "swimmer's itch," or cercarial dermatitis, carried by microscopic parasites, are common in freshwater in parts of the Caribbean, South America, Africa and Asia. Malaria-bearing mosquitoes, endemic in West Africa and South Asia, infect 300 to 500 million people worldwide annually, while mosquitoes in Southeast Asia carry dengue fever and those in Africa and South America carry yellow fever. U.S. travel isn't risk-free either; mosquito-borne West Nile Virus claimed 165 U.S. lives last year, not to mention rodent-borne hantavirus and tick-transported Lyme disease.

What You Can Do

* Contact your doctor or travel clinic four to six weeks ahead of travel to plan for vaccinations and medications. Pack a medical kit, including needed prescriptions, first-aid supplies, extra medicines and—if you plan to be sexually active—contraceptives; see sidebar.

* Consider medical insurance for travel to destinations with disease and poor sanitation, or for high-risk adventure plans.

* Fend off mosquitoes and other insect bites with long-sleeved shirts, pants and hats. Use repellents sparingly, especially DEET, which can cause skin irritation and blistering at high concentrations. The less-toxic lemon eucalyptus oil in Bygone Bugzz or Cutter picaridin-based repellents also provide long-lasting protection (see GG #108). Bed netting permeated with pyrethroid insecticides (see below), such as the Mombasa Defender Mosquito Net ($26; www.rei.com, 800-426-4840), can be a useful shield, but minimize contact with skin and clothing.

* In tick-infested areas, check yourself during outdoor activity and at day's end.

* Where swimmer's itch or schistosomiasis is prevalent, swim in chlorinated pools or saltwater.