Bad case of a mysterious sickness

A couple of weekends ago I was hit hard with a sickness that left me with a pounding headache, sore muscles, chills, stomach cramps, and serious diarrhea. I had no idea where all of this came from. I considered some possibilities: a virus that was supposedly going around in the clinic, my immune system being easy prey to 'foreign' bacteria and germs, my exhausting trips to Panajachel (3 hours away from Antigua) and Monterrico Beach (2 hours away) all in two days, the food I’d eaten in either of the aforementioned locations, the climate….One thing I didn’t consider was the food I was eating within my own homestay.*

Other volunteers staying at the homestay had also gotten sick and had similar symptoms. One guy got hit the worst and was bed ridden for three days. He may have gotten the most sick because he usually ate the most amount of food at the table during every meal. (Who can blame him? The food is delicious!)

It turns out that we had parasites (tapeworm infection) in our system. "Eating undercooked meat from infected animals is the main cause of tapeworm infection in people." We all tried different medications. I first took a couple of Advil, thinking I just had a fever and that the pills would reduce the symptoms. They did nothing. I then went to the local pharmacy and bought some powder (to mix in a drink) that the pharmacist told me would stop my diarrhea. I also bought three bottles of Albendazole, and took a couple of Oregano oil pills. Not sure which medication killed the tapeworm(s), but I started feeling much better in a couple of days.

It’s inevitable for someone to get sick when she travels abroad, and this sickness could be from a myriad of things. If you plan to travel abroad to a developing country, be sure to bring along appropriate medications and to get the necessary immunizations before arrival.


*The homestays provided through Maximo Nivel are screened thoroughly and chosen carefully. This one incidence of volunteers getting sick is a rarity, and one that the organization has not taken lightly. The problem was identified and addressed appropriately.