Health in Egypt

Some visitors are extremely vigilant when they visit Egypt .

They watch what they eat, stay out of the sun, and barely look at the local water and yet they still get ill. Other travellers eat what they like, drink everything and anything and never feel less than 100% healthy.

The fact is there is no way to guarantee not getting ill during your trip, and isolating the single variable responsible is often an impossible task. However, there are a few common sense steps one can take in order to minimise the risk of getting ill, and maintain your health in Egypt.

1) Buy Travel Insurance

Most likley you will never need to use this, but if you do get ill or need emergency treatment no doctor will look at you if you don't have travel insurance.

Egyptian hospitals are not the greatest in the world, and if you do need repatriation back to your home country for specific treatment most insurers will cover this.

2) Don’t Underestimate the Sun

Egypt can get incredibly hot, especially during the summer months. Make sure you wear plenty of high factor sunscreen, sunglasses, and a hat. Heat exhaustion, and it’s more severe cousin, ‘sun stroke’, will destroy your holiday and can require urgent medical attention.

3) Drink Water Before you Get Thirsty

A common cause of fever and sickness is dehydration. You do not necessarily have to feel thirsty to become chronically dehydrated. You should remind yourself to drink water before you get thirsty.

Many people end up feeling sick, weak and deflated and blame it on something they must have eaten. The fact is that in many cases this is the result of dehydration, and it’s something that can very easily be avoided. Drink!

4) Drink Bottled Water

Although Egypt ’s tap water is officially safe to drink, it tastes fairly awful (often heavily chlorinated) and the change in water content alone can still be enough to upset our sensitive western stomachs.

If you’re in Egypt for a short period of time there is little point in risking a few days of your holiday confined to your bedroom.

Therefore it’s best to stick to the bottled stuff. It’s cheap and available everywhere. To ensure that you are in fact buying bottled water, and not a bottle that has been refilled with tap water, check that the plastic cap around the top of the bottle has not been broken and is still in place.

5) Food

Theoretically anything that can be washed, cooked or peeled should be fine. Beware of undercooked meats and stay away from ice cream sold on the street. Busy restaurants are a good sign, and likewise be cautious of empty ones.

Some people opt to stay away from salads and avoid ice in drinks on the basis that they may have been washed in and made from tap water respectively. Restaurants that successfully cater towards the tourist industry will usually be clued up on this. If in doubt, ask.

Read more about Egyptian food and dining in Egypt

6) Money – Wash you hands!

Maybe the most important tip for protecting your health in Egypt is to regularly wash your hands, especially after handling the local cash.

Local currency in Egypt appears as old, dusty and decrepit as many of its most ancient monuments. Visitors constantly interact with the dirty notes when buying trinkets and souvenirs and then forget to wash their hands.

Get yourself some portable hand wash gel and remind yourself to use it regularly!