Tourists need extra care to avoid food and water borne diseases

Rawalpindi
Health experts say that tourists visiting hill stations, including Murree and Nathiagali, these days to enjoy snowfall should take extra care to avoid food and water borne diseases and respiratory tract infections.
After the first rain of winter recently, a number of people have been visiting Murree. The majority of tourists consume food and water being served in hotels and restaurants, which may cause infections mainly because of being highly contaminated and unhygienic.
It is observed that the majority of people visiting hill stations, particularly Murree, in winter contract respiratory tract infections or water and food borne infections during their stay because most hotels, restaurants and vendors there are operating in unhygienic conditions, said Medical Officer at Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences Dr. Wasim Khwaja while talking to ‘The News’ on Sunday.
He said in every winter, the PIMS receives a number of patients at its outpatient department who reach hospital after visiting Murree. It happens so because the majority of tourists do not give due attention to preventive measures needed to avoid winter-related health threats, he added.
He said that it is commonly observed that children and elderly people got infections and serious complications while staying in Murree and other hill stations.
Like PIMS, the allied hospitals in Rawalpindi receive significant number of tourists every year in winter with respiratory tract infections and gastroenteritis.
Executive District Officer (Health) Dr. Khalid Randhawa was of the view that at least three types of preventive measures must be needed by tourists while visiting Murree and its adjoining areas. Visitors should keep their bodies warm by wearing warm clothes properly, while children and elderly people should avoid exposure to extreme cold, in the morning, evening and night, he said.
He said that if possible, tourists should avoid consuming water available at local restaurants; instead they should use packed (mineral) water, particularly if on a one-day visit. He said people who are staying in Murree for longer period of time should use water for drinking after boiling.
It is worth mentioning that due to locally designed lavatory (latrines) system being used in both urban and rural areas of Murree, drinking water in most of the areas is not safe. In Murree, underground sewerage tanks (for managing faecal waste) are not constructed properly due to which there are great chances of mixing of waste into drinking water in the underground water sources.
Also most of the local hotels and restaurants in Murree serve tap water to their customers for drinking that might put great threat to their health. In the past, faecal coliforms were found in samples of drinking water taken from different points in Murree.
Dr Randhawa suggested that tourists visiting Murree should take extra care while consuming food at hotels and should avoid eating half-cooked food as due to heavy influx of visitors, most of the local hotels do not cook food properly.