Travellers' diarrhoea
Travellers' Diarrhoea What to do, from where you are.
Diarrhoea a day or two into a trip, maybe with cramps, nausea or a low temperature? It is the most common travel illness, and NHS guidance says diarrhoea and vomiting usually stop in a few days and can usually be treated at home — the most important thing is lots of fluids to avoid dehydration. TravelHealthPro, the UK's national travel health service, draws the line clearly: a fever of 38°C or more, blood or mucus in the stool, severe abdominal pain, or signs like jaundice, rash or confusion mean immediate medical care. For everything short of that, Pomodoc connects you by video with an English-speaking doctor licensed to treat you where you are, for a fixed €40, to judge how dehydrated you are and whether this needs more than fluids and time.
Rehydration is the main treatment, and the decision is usually about thresholds rather than examination — which is why a conversation settles most cases.
- €40
- per consultation
- No insurance
- or local registration needed
English-speaking doctors, licensed to treat you in the country you are in.
What Travellers' Diarrhoea Usually Does
It begins after arrival, typically in the first week, and for most people it is loose stools several times a day with cramps, sometimes nausea or a mild temperature. NHS guidance on diarrhoea and vomiting is that it should stop in a few days and can usually be treated at home; the priority is fluids.
With Pomodoc you can speak with an English-speaking doctor by video from wherever you are staying, describe what is happening and how much you are keeping down, and get a clear answer on whether this is one to wait out or one to act on.
- Consult securely by video
- Avoid unnecessary travel and waiting rooms
- Get clear guidance about your symptoms and treatment
- Access care while travelling or living abroad
Do You Need a Doctor for Travellers' Diarrhoea?
Usually not, and TravelHealthPro says rehydration is the main treatment. Here is where a conversation genuinely helps, and where it does not.
A video consultation may be a useful first step when
- you are keeping fluids down but cannot tell whether it is enough
- you are in a higher-risk group — older, pregnant, or with a long-term condition — and want early advice, which TravelHealthPro says such groups should seek
- you are wondering whether antibiotics are even a question in your case
- you have a flight or a long journey coming and need to know what is realistic
- you want thresholds for overnight, so you know when to stop waiting
For an ordinary case the honest output of a call is a plan and a set of thresholds. Antibiotics are not routine for this, and whether they are appropriate is a clinical judgement a doctor makes case by case.
Get immediate in-person care instead when
- you have a fever of 38°C or more
- there is blood or mucus in the stool
- you have severe abdominal pain, or jaundice, a rash, or are confused or drowsy
- you cannot keep fluids down, or show signs of dehydration: great thirst, sunken eyes, dark urine, dizziness on standing
- the person affected is an infant or young child, or an older traveller, who is not tolerating fluids
Pomodoc connects you with an English-speaking doctor by video, licensed to treat you in the country you are in, for €40 per consultation. Fixed price, no surprises.
If you are getting better the way most people do, a doctor telling you so is a reasonable thing to pay for once. Fear of a clinic you cannot find is not a reason to wait with a fever.
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How It Works
Medical advice by video in three simple steps
Start online
Tell us which country you are in and what is going on. It is a short form, not an appointment request.
Join by video
See your English-speaking doctor using your phone, tablet or computer.
Get clear guidance
Discuss your symptoms and receive advice about your next steps.
Why Use Pomodoc?
Explain it in English
Describe your symptoms and ask questions in English, instead of translating them first or hoping the clinic has someone who speaks it.
You do not have to leave the room
This is the illness where getting anywhere is the hardest part. A consultation happens where you already are.
A clinician's view on antibiotics
Buying a course at a counter abroad is easy in some countries and a bad idea in most cases. A doctor can tell you whether it is even a question for you.
Understand what to do next
A doctor can help you decide whether you need treatment, rehydration support or an in-person appointment.
Travellers who needed a doctor abroad
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Doctor was very nice and adequately thorough, explained everything very well. The whole process was far easier than expected.
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More About Travellers' Diarrhoea
Rehydration is the treatment
NHS guidance is plain: diarrhoea and vomiting can usually be treated at home, and the most important thing is to have lots of fluids to avoid dehydration. Take small sips if you feel sick, and do not have fruit juice or fizzy drinks, which can make diarrhoea worse. Oral rehydration sachets, sold by pharmacies almost everywhere, replace the salts and fluid a heavy episode takes out of you.
TravelHealthPro says the same in its own words: rehydration is the main treatment, and it should be started promptly in the groups where dehydration has more serious consequences — young children and infants, older travellers, and people with long-term conditions.
Antibiotics: a doctor's call, not a counter purchase
In some countries you can buy antibiotics over a pharmacy counter. That does not make it a good idea. TravelHealthPro notes that resistance to the fluoroquinolone antibiotics once used routinely for travellers' diarrhoea has become an increasing problem in parts of the world, and that safety concerns about their use have been raised.
Which is why this page names no drug and no dose. Whether treatment is appropriate depends on your symptoms, where you are, and your own health, and it is a judgement a doctor makes on a consultation rather than something a page can promise.
Medicines that slow diarrhoea
NHS guidance says not to give children under 12 medicine to stop diarrhoea. TravelHealthPro says loperamide or bismuth subsalicylate may be considered for adults to relieve mild to moderate diarrhoea for a maximum of two days — for example when a long bus journey makes frequent diarrhoea a problem — and that loperamide is available over the counter for adults and children over 12. It also says not to use them with blood or mucus in the stool, a high fever, severe abdominal pain, or active inflammatory bowel disease. Those are reasons to be assessed, not medicated and waited out.
Where you are changes what to do next
The medicine is the same everywhere; the system around it is not. Whether the tap water is drinkable, whether a pharmacy is open at 2am, whether the hotel will send a doctor and what that costs, and where the nearest private clinic is — all of that depends on the country.
The country pages below set out what has been verified for each destination, rather than offering a general rule that would be wrong somewhere.
Good things to know.
How long does travellers' diarrhoea last?
NHS guidance says diarrhoea and vomiting should stop in a few days. For travellers, TravelHealthPro says to seek medical care if symptoms do not improve within three days; NHS gives diarrhoea lasting more than seven days, or vomiting for more than two, as reasons to get advice, so do not wait for the longer figure if you are not improving by day three — and the TravelHealthPro thresholds of fever of 38°C or more, or blood or mucus in the stool, mean immediate care whenever they appear.
Should I take antibiotics for travellers' diarrhoea?
Not routinely, and not from a counter. Rehydration is the main treatment. TravelHealthPro notes growing resistance to the antibiotics once used for this and safety concerns about their use. Whether treatment is appropriate in your case is a clinical judgement; a doctor can tell you whether it is even a question.
What should I drink?
Lots of fluids, in small sips if you feel sick, according to NHS guidance, and avoid fruit juice and fizzy drinks because they can make diarrhoea worse. Oral rehydration sachets mixed with safe water are the standard way to replace salts and fluid after a heavy episode. Where tap water is not drinkable, use bottled water for the sachets too.
What are the signs of dehydration?
TravelHealthPro lists great thirst, sunken eyes, and dry skin with reduced elasticity; NHS guidance adds dark, smelly urine or passing urine less often than usual, and dizziness. If those appear, or you cannot keep fluids down, get medical advice rather than waiting.
Can a video doctor help with travellers' diarrhoea?
For most cases, yes — the decision is about hydration and warning signs rather than examination. A doctor can take a history, judge how dehydrated you sound, check for the red flags, say whether treatment is a question for you, and tell you plainly whether you need to be seen. What cannot happen over video is an examination, a stool test, or fluids into a vein.
Is it travellers' diarrhoea or food poisoning?
The two overlap and the first steps are the same: fluids, rest, and watching for the warning signs. Travellers' diarrhoea is the name used when the illness starts after arriving somewhere with a different food and water environment. The label matters less than the thresholds; fever, blood in the stool or dehydration change the answer whatever you call it.
How much does a Pomodoc video consultation cost?
€40 is the fixed price of the video consultation with a doctor. It includes the consultation and, where clinically appropriate and local rules permit, a prescription. Medication you buy at a pharmacy, and any in-person care you go on to need, are separate. There is no subscription and no booking fee.
When is a video consultation not the right call?
Not when TravelHealthPro's immediate-care signs are present: a fever of 38°C or more, blood or mucus in the stool, severe abdominal pain, jaundice, rash or confusion. Not when you cannot keep fluids down or show signs of dehydration. And not for an infant, an older traveller or someone with a long-term condition who is not tolerating fluids. In those cases get in-person care; in a life-threatening emergency call the local emergency number first.
Sources
- Diarrhoea and vomitingNHSThat diarrhoea and vomiting should stop in a few days and can usually be treated at home; that the most important thing is lots of fluids to avoid dehydration; small sips; avoiding fruit juice and fizzy drinks; not giving children under 12 medicine to stop diarrhoea; the dehydration signs including dark, smelly urine and passing urine less often; and the reasons to get advice including being unable to keep fluids down, bloody diarrhoea, diarrhoea for more than seven days or vomiting for more than two days, which it lists as reasons to call 111 now.
- Travellers' diarrhoeaTravelHealthPro (NaTHNaC)That immediate medical care should be sought for a fever of 38°C or more, blood and/or mucus in the stool, or other worrying symptoms such as altered mental status, severe abdominal pain, jaundice or rash; that young children, infants, older travellers and others where dehydration has more serious consequences must seek early advice if not tolerating fluids or showing signs of dehydration such as great thirst, sunken eyes or dry skin with reduced elasticity; that rehydration is the main treatment; and that resistance to fluoroquinolones has become an increasing problem in some parts of the world with safety concerns raised about their use; that travellers should seek medical care if symptoms do not improve within three days; and that loperamide or bismuth subsalicylate may be considered for adults to relieve mild to moderate diarrhoea for a maximum of two days, should not be used with active inflammatory bowel disease, blood or mucus in the stool, high fever or severe abdominal pain, and that loperamide is available over the counter for adults and children over 12
Sources last checked: . General information, not a diagnosis.
Not Sure Whether You Need a Doctor?
Speak to an English-speaking doctor by video and get guidance from wherever you are.
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Video consultations are for suitable non-emergency medical concerns. In a life-threatening emergency, call your local emergency number, or 112 from any phone in the EU. This page is general information, not medical advice about your own situation.