By the way . .

Byline: MARTIN SCURR

NOW is the time school leavers start coming to talk to me about healthprecautions for their proposed gap year travels.

They turn up at my surgery in a state of great excitementfinally they're done with schoolcombined with anxiety that the forthcoming exam results might undo theirambitions . .

And so a cool and monosyllabic teenager sits in front of me clutching aprintout from the internet detailing the health hazards in the proposeddestinations.

This printout will have been provided by the parents, and Mother will besomewhere in the background, anxiousrightly soabout the need to discuss rabies, dengue fever, malaria, gastroenteritis, andall of the possible plagues that might be encountered beyond Calais.

For me, this is the moment for a carefully detailed but brief talk aboutmalaria and the critical need above all for keeping on taking the tablets, evenafter your return home.

Mindful of the fact that the post A-level attention span quickly fades, I keepthe message short.

But long ago I realised that the greatest health hazards for young peopletravelling abroad are the very same dangers presented to them at home: thosecaused by reckless behaviour.

Riding rented mopeds without a crash helmet or protective clothing; engaging inadventure sports without proper training or supervision; road accidents in openvehicles without seatbelts; and unwise romantic liaisons.

These are the activities that result in injury or even death, and lead to youngpeople returning home from what was expected to be a great time of adventurebut which turned out to be a misery for all concerned.

My message is that protection against tropical illness, both by immunisationand anti-malarial drugs, is critical, yet (as we had hammered into us atmedical school) common things are commonestso we must warn our kids that they shouldn't abandon common sense once theypass Dover..