Have you ever gotten sick in Mexico?

[Kat]

ggunn,

I am in total agreement with you. If you've picked up a bug, your body needs to flush out whatever evil microbs there might be. If it seems to be lingering, see a Dr.

Being a diver has helped curtail the party til ya puke - vacations. It might be I am maturing, as well. (Nahh)

[coppermaus]

I got sick every time I traveled to Central America or Mexico, but it got less and less severe. Now I don't get it at all. Your mileage may vary.

That good be good news for me. How many trips down that way before you stopped getting sick? I'd love to think that someday the madness will stop. Apparently Moctezuma doesn't care that I didn't vote for Cortez!

[crispos]

Only been to Coz twice. I was pretty sick a few days after getting home but it was a cough from the air in the plane and fellow tourists. Never been sick from food, eaten tacos off the street. BTW, AVOID Skyservice from Toronto to Cozumel! Late several hours both in and out which added to stress.

Cozumel is really clean compared to some places in the South, it is hard to imagine there is any particular bacterial problem there. If you go to San Andres Island, you will find much worse food hygiene. And much worse, someone got Ciguatera in SAI from the fish buffet, his hands became bloated like gloves. Don't even ask, it ain't going to happen in a place like Coz. But obviously, cold food on buffets are asking for trouble. If you want to avoid getting sick, forget about all inclusive hotels, that is IMHO.

For those who got sick easily due to a naturally frail gringo constitution, you must get on an antibiotic before getting on the airplane, and end them after getting back home.

I think the one of choice is http://www.levofloxacin.com and after getting sick in Bogota, Colombia after coming home, three little (but expensive) pills and it was all gone. I got that from my expert travel doctor, Dr. Jay Keystone, who was at Toronto General Hospital, but now is at Medisys Travel Clinic in Toronto. He was in Machu Picchu last year, so he knows his stuff.

Copious amounts of tequila will do it apparently as well. Get a bug from the top of a can of Tecate? Hell, I use Tecate to disinfect my toothbrush. Sure, if you drink tap water, you deserve getting sick.

[Tim Ingersoll]

Soooo thats it. . .I never get sick because of the tequila!!!

[Coachwah]

Thats what I was thinkin'.

[coppermaus]

Soooo thats it. . .I never get sick because of the tequila!!!

Ohhh, I understand now. If I drink lots of tequila I won't get sick, since I'd be dead.

[ff214]

Just got back from a dive trip to Playa Del Carmen, including a 2 tank in Cozumel. I didn't get sick, however, my wife did a little. She took some Ciprol and felt better the next day. However, I did experience a ear infection, I think. Towards the end of the week, one evening, I started experiencing a great deal of pain in one ear. I had a dive planned in the Cenotes the next day, figured I better have it checked out. 10:00 pm found a 24 hour clinic sign above a small drug/party store in Playa Del Carmen. Doctor came and met us there. Did his exam right on the store floor, felt the pain was from pressure inside the inner ear from the flight and diving. Gave me some pills and a couple of shots in the ass, right next to the ice cream cooler, took his money and was gone. No more diving, but felt much better the following afternoon. Curious thing however, the doc didn't feel is was diving related, however, 3 out of 5 divers that dove the Tortugas on the same day came down with the same ear problems. None had ever experienced ear problems before. Hmmmm.

[Maya]

Ciguatera can be gotten from any warm water fish, can't it? Not from poor hygiene or lack of cleanliness....and I don't think it matters if the fish is cold or hot.

I have never been sick in Mexico, and that includes numerous trips driving down to Yucatan or to Belize. Worse bug I ever got was after eating in a restaurant in Brownsville, Texas....

[crispos]

Ciguatera can be gotten from any warm water fish, can't it? Not from poor hygiene or lack of cleanliness....and I don't think it matters if the fish is cold or hot.

I never said Ciguatera was from food hygiene or cold or hot buffets. Please reread my post. I said it was much worse than poor food hygiene.

Ciguatera poisoning comes from the neurotoxins produced by microorganisms such as dinoflagellates that accumulate in molluscs and ultimately end up concentrated in the flesh of larger predatory fish such as black grouper and barracuda.

Most reported group cases are of seaman getting hungry and shooting a few big pelagic fish when they are out to sea. The symptoms are extreme fatigue, nausea, paraesthesia, and in the case I mentioned, skin rash and swelling. It eventually goes away but there can be long-term neurological damage.

It is not a problem for most local restaurants because over the years they know what fish to avoid and don't serve them.

[ggunn]

Ciguatera poisoning comes from the neurotoxins produced by microorganisms such as dinoflagellates that accumulate in molluscs and ultimately end up concentrated in the flesh of larger predatory fish such as black grouper and barracuda.

Most reported group cases are of seaman getting hungry and shooting a few big pelagic fish when they are out to sea.

Out on fishing boats off Cozumel, I have seen deck hands cut open freshly caught barracuda to find the liver, to which they touch a finger, and then touch the finger to their tongue. They told me that if it tastes peppery, the fish is bad to eat. As best I can tell from their broken English and my even worse Español, it has to do with what the barracuda had been eating.

I don't know for a fact if this test is accurate, but maybe that's what they are testing for.