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Tuesday, June 17, 2008
A cure for Montezuma’s Revenge?
One of the best parts about coming to Mexico is savoring its delicious street food. But for many visitors, the looming threat of traveler’s diarrhea (otherwise known has Montezuma’s Revenge) is enough to scare them away from eating anything that’s not on a restaurant menu.
Thanks to some researchers with the Iomai Corp, such worries may soon be a thing of the past. Reuters is reporting that the company has come up with an experimental vaccine (it has yet to be approved by the FDA) patch that that travelers could wear when they take a trip. According to a study of the patch, 11 percent of travelers who took a placebo while traveling in Mexico and Guatemala got severe diarrhea; only 2 percent who took the patch got majorly sick.
The patch is apparently the first vaccine against a strain of E. coli that is the top cause of traveler’s sickness. A UT-Houston professor told Reuters the vaccine is “one of the most exciting new developments in travel medicine.”
Hallelujah. That should mean the wonderful world of tacos campechanos, tortas cubanas and gorditas and sopes should soon be available to everyone.
