Health advice for living in a Florida home or taking holidays in Florida
Living permanently in a Florida home or taking holidays in Florida poses no particular health risk to most healthy people. However, the unexpected has a habit of happening. The most important item to slip into your relocation luggage when moving to Florida is health insurance. If you are jetting off on vacation, the all-essential item is comprehensive travel and medical insurance that will cover you for any activities you intend to undertake.
Vaccination recommendations
According to the International Travel and Health 2005 manual published by the World Health Organisation, travellers taking holidays in Florida or staying in a Florida home do not require vaccinations.
Mosquito bites
Mosquitoes are a flipping nuisance wherever you are in the world and Florida is no exception. Thankfully, malaria is not present in the States but both encephalitis and West Nile Virus are, so, quite apart from wanting to avoid the general discomfort of bites when you are on holiday in Florida, it is all the more essential to take precautions against these wretched critters.
They are at their most active between June and November. Apart from staying indoors during dusk and in the evening, the most sensible precautions are to wear long-sleeved shirts and long trousers when you are outside, and to use DEET (NN-diethyl-meta-toluamide) mosquito repellent. For adults a concentration of between 7.5% to 100% is recommended while a 15% concentration is recommended for children. If you own your own property in the Sunshine State, you can help to control the mosquito population by eliminating any sources of standing water around your Florida home.
Water and food contamination is rare in the USA
Food hygiene is generally extremely high in Florida; home (tap) sources of water are clean, even in remote areas. Providing you avoid drinking water from unknown sources in the state’s great outdoors, you should not experience even mild tummy upsets during your holidays in Florida.
Holidays in Florida mean plenty of sun. Take care!
Most Brits do not encounter any health problems when they are in Florida. Health insurance (for long stayers), or travel insurance (for holidaymakers), is absolutely crucial, however, because medical assistance is staggeringly expensive. Fortunately, unless you are deliberately seeking out alligators or sharks while taking holidays in Florida or living in a Florida home, the most serious health risk comes from the weather. Avoid excessive sunbathing, especially between 11am and 3pm, and wear the highest factor sunscreen. Also, drink plenty of water – it is easy to become dehydrated in such a hot climate.
