11-14-2012, 10:42 PM
I travel to Mexico for two weeks every year. The water is fine, remember the locals drink it. But food preparation and storage is not. Also, many people in the food preparation business could care less about your health because you are an American. When going to a restaurant with the family, one person will order a number of meals and include this gringo's meal within that order so that it isn't purposely contaminated.
My family in Mexico trusts the water but not the food. Refrigeration is not well practiced. I had to convince THEM to turn their refrigerators down from 45* to 34*. They thought that meant it would use too much electricity... The freezer was just barely below freezing. I bought a thermometer and crank down the fridge to where it should be as soon as we arrive. Their maids don't seem to have basic food handling skills. Reheating food means getting it just a bit warmer than room temperature. Black water is used for irrigation for things like strawberries. Then they aren't washed or not washed properly. The soapy wash water can be used for days. No heating dishes in an autoclave or whatever the machines we have in our restaurants are called.
One sister-in-law got an intestinal bug when we were there. As did everybody in the department where she worked (a university which had the facilities to find and identify the bug.). It was from the water cooler. And the kind of bottled water we think of can also be contaminated as can soft drinks. Rare but it happens, usually from poor bottling practices. Yet the superpurificado milk can sit on the shelf for months in its waxed paperboard carton and is just fine.
I order and eat only well cooked food. All those nice fruits and salads stay uneaten. If you do catch something drink, drink, drink. You do build up an immunity to whatever you have but it lasts for only about as long as it takes to clear the bug.
You typically aren't going to get an antibiotic because they don't want superbugs. Up until two years ago you could buy antibiotics over-the-counter (as well as most other drugs save for narcotics.). Now you need a script for an antibiotic.
Practice good hygiene.
My 22 y.o. daughter is immuned suppressed (kidney transplant) so I am very aware of this. She did get an intestinal bug once one year and spent a week recovering in the hospital upon our return to the USA. IV potassium required because of losses. She was not given an antibiotic here, either. Just lots of fluids, IV and oral.
My family in Mexico trusts the water but not the food. Refrigeration is not well practiced. I had to convince THEM to turn their refrigerators down from 45* to 34*. They thought that meant it would use too much electricity... The freezer was just barely below freezing. I bought a thermometer and crank down the fridge to where it should be as soon as we arrive. Their maids don't seem to have basic food handling skills. Reheating food means getting it just a bit warmer than room temperature. Black water is used for irrigation for things like strawberries. Then they aren't washed or not washed properly. The soapy wash water can be used for days. No heating dishes in an autoclave or whatever the machines we have in our restaurants are called.
One sister-in-law got an intestinal bug when we were there. As did everybody in the department where she worked (a university which had the facilities to find and identify the bug.). It was from the water cooler. And the kind of bottled water we think of can also be contaminated as can soft drinks. Rare but it happens, usually from poor bottling practices. Yet the superpurificado milk can sit on the shelf for months in its waxed paperboard carton and is just fine.
I order and eat only well cooked food. All those nice fruits and salads stay uneaten. If you do catch something drink, drink, drink. You do build up an immunity to whatever you have but it lasts for only about as long as it takes to clear the bug.
You typically aren't going to get an antibiotic because they don't want superbugs. Up until two years ago you could buy antibiotics over-the-counter (as well as most other drugs save for narcotics.). Now you need a script for an antibiotic.
Practice good hygiene.
My 22 y.o. daughter is immuned suppressed (kidney transplant) so I am very aware of this. She did get an intestinal bug once one year and spent a week recovering in the hospital upon our return to the USA. IV potassium required because of losses. She was not given an antibiotic here, either. Just lots of fluids, IV and oral.